Don't Tempt Fate
by RestIsRustandStardust
Summary: "It was a good thing Marcie took Rose's wand, for if she hadn't, Malfoy probably would not be with us today." Time won't stop a rivalry as old as that of the Malfoys and Weasleys. But don't tempt fate - or rather, don't tempt Hogwarts. Rated T for swearing, innuendo, and very few trigger subjects (warnings if in a chapter). I don't own anything - all rights to JK!
1. In Which We Meet Rose

**A/N: I, alas, do not have ownership of Harry Potter.**

The hallowed halls of Hogwarts were swarmed with students, rushing from class to class. A pair of Gryffindor first years ran by, chattering excitedly whilst running to their next class. A few Ravenclaw second year girls sniffed at the first years and flipped their hair over their shoulders, for they were obviously _far_ superior than the newbies. A group of third year boys from Hufflepuff were exchanging answers that they gave on the first day pop quiz McGonagall liked to give out with worried frowns in the corner of the hall. A couple of fourth year Slytherins were giggling at that cute beater that just made captain. A fifth year Gryffindor truant flicked his wand at a first year, bursting the poor kid's ink bottle all over their books. A sixth year couple were sitting on the window ledge by the courtyard, smiling sweetly at each other. The pair of seventh years walking down the hall clamored to tell each other about their summers and job interviews coming up. One of those girls was Rose Weasley.

Rose Weasley . . . well Rose Weasley was something else. As a child of the legendary wizarding duo, Ron and Hermione Weasley, the girl was basically destined for greatness. She had her mother's wildly curly hair, but in the infamous shade of Weasley Red (no joke, that's actually what Beatrix Hair Tricks for Wizards and Witches calls their red hair dye). Her eyes were hazel, a mix of her mother's brown and her father's blue. Her body had curves any girl would kill for, and her petite frame (obviously not inherited from her father) was lithe and strong. Oh, and probably the most important of her physical assets, she had a delicate, upturned nose and sharply arched eyebrows, both features that perfected her sarcastic bitch stare.

Besides being quite the pretty little thing, Rose had the sharpest tongue in her year. Her Weasley Woman Tongue (which every red headed Weasley female had inherited since 1653) was fully operational and ready to give out a sarcastic quip or sharp response on demand. Of course, though, Rose was an altogether nice person and never felt the need to overuse her Weasley Tongue - except with . . . well, we'll get to that.

Now Rose was obviously beautiful and had a personality to match, but that's not what she was known for at Hogwarts. Sure, any guy would have loved to take her out on a date (Even Sir Cadogan's painting once tried to flirt with her), but the only guy who ever came close to being her boyfriend was Hayden Diggory, and, despite his protests that all them went well, Rose broke up with the boy after two measly dates to Hogsmeade, citing "personality differences". No one really knows what happened between the two, but it was obvious Rose wasn't one to be tied down to an "unnecessary obligation", as she phrased it to her friends. But anyways, no, Rose was most certainly _not_ the romantic type. Miss Weasley was married to her studies. She took after her mother in her voracious reading habits, tearing through books within hours ("Thank God she has a brain to back up that mouht," Ron often said, "or she would end up burping slugs."). Her Head Girl badge was displayed proudly and prominently on her immaculate robes. For the past decade, a Head Student was chosen from each house to promote inter-house unity, or whatever the hell it was supposed to do. Rose had heard that Alice Longbottom was the Head from Ravenclaw, and Lorcan Scamander was the Hufflepuff Head, but she had yet to find out who the Slytherin Head would be. She hoped it would be her cousin - Albus had been working so hard for the position.

Rose had received an Outstanding in all of her O.W.L.s last year, with the exception of Divination, and she's totally not bitter about that, even if she _only got a bloody Acceptable even though that subject is obviously a pile of dragon shit and Trelawney is known to have misplaced her bloody marbles._ Nope, definitely not bitter whatsoever. In any case, Rose was planning on taking her N.E.W.T.s and she _would_ get a bloody Outstanding on each one if it was the last thing she ever did.

Rose was a very intense person, if one couldn't tell.

Along with that intensity, Rose was extremely career driven. As in, _extremely_ career driven. Rose had known since she was eight years old that she wanted to be a healer. Well, not really a healer. Ever since the Second Wizarding War, a new Auror training program had developed. Now, newly graduated wizards who were in the training program were put into squads of seven, and each auror recruit would be assigned a job. Rose wanted the healer position - that job was to specialize in healing, though in the end, her job would be that of a Battle Auror's. Careers are actually exactly what Rose and her friend Marcie Scamander of Hufflepuff were talking about at the beginning of this scene.

"Ro- _ose_!" Marcie whined out the "o" in her friend's name, "You know I love you, but I swear on Merlin's grave, if you don't stop talking about your bloody job interview with the Ministry of Magic that will take place no time soon, my wand might just _accidentally_ cast a hair loss curse your way." Rose gasped and instinctually grabbed at her mane of thick, red hair, but shut up promptly. One simply does not test Marcie - it is a bad idea. The blonde Hufflepuff smirked and continued.

"Now, I _asked_ you about your summer. And Rosie, I don't want to hear about studying or reading. I want to hear about the fun things! Did you go back to the Burrow? Did you meet any cool Muggles over the summer? Did you meet - " Marcie gasped conspiringly, "a _boy_." Rose rolled her eyes at her best friend's comment.

" _No_ , I didn't. I was, in fact, at the Burrow for most of the summer, but I was helping my cousins de-gnome the garden for a good three quarters of my time there. The rest of the time was spent trying to get the gnomes' dirt clod missiles out of my hair. Unfortunately, I had no time for shagging any Muggles, thank you very much."

"I still can't believe that your family has _fun_ de-gnoming your bloody gardens. I mean, when I visited you in July, you guys didn't seem so crazy about de-gnoming!" Marcie wrinkled her nose. Rose laughed at her best friend's foul expression.

" _You_ were only there for a week. I had to beg Gramma Molly to let the whole de-gnoming thing go for the week!" Rose laughed, "I suppose it's a Weasley thing." The red head jostled her friend's shoulder, laughing, and the two continued to talk about their summers. Out of nowhere, two hands placed themselves over Rose's eyes. Usually, if someone she didn't know touched her, shit would flip. But Rose recognized the distinct but not unpleasant scent of her brother.

"Guess who, little sister?" the newly changed voice rang out.

"Hugo!" Rose laughed, brushing away her brother's hands, "Don't you have Quidditch tryouts right now?" Her brother rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Blimey woman it's the first day of school, how do y'know my bloody schedule already?" he mumbled, already knowing that Rose took it upon herself to memorize the whole family's schedule within the first few days they received them during the summer, "And yes, I should be at Quidditch, but my Quidditch robes don't fit anymore, so McGonagall is sending me to Professor Flitwick to see if he can charm my clothes to tide me over until I can get to Hogsmeade. I swear to all things holy that woman does not know how to bloody function if everything isn't goddamn perfect." Not only did Hugo inherit the Weasley Red and his father's foul mouth, he also inherited his father's tall genes. Hugo shot up over the summer, and now towered over his older sister. He had taken to patting her on the head whenever he walked by and had developed the annoying habit of referring to Rose as his "little sister".

"Watch that goddamn mouth, Hugo." Rose sighed. Hugo just rolled his eyes.

"Like you don't swear, Rosie."

"Of course I don't," Rose said dismissively. Marcie, who had been silent for the exchange so far, piped up.

"So what is this I hear about the Quidditch leagues opening up to other European schools?" She asked, raising an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Oh, yeah," Hugo replied, voice speeding up excitedly, "This year we're gonna open the league up to be interschool - now Durmstrang and Beauxbatons teams will be in the league, and McGonagall is still trying to convince the Russian school, Koldovstoretz, to join. We'll still have the School Tournament, but now Quidditch season will go on for a few more months, and the House teams are a lot harder to get on to, I heard."

"Worried you won't make it, Hugie?" Marcie asked, using Hugo's childhood name - Marcie was practically family to the Weasley-Granger household by this point.

"Merlin's beard, Marce, it's _Hugo_ now," Higo whined, looking around quickly to make sure none of his friends had heard the rather childish nickname, "And yes, of course I will. I'm the best Keeper Gryffindor has!" He wasn't lying. Honest, Hugo was incredible at Quidditch, and had more athletic talent in his pinky than Rose had in her entire body.

"I'll just have to work hard and remind Dominique how much ass I kicked last year on the team," Hugo shrugged.

"Well then you should hurry along then, _little brother who is still younger than me despite the height difference._ Oh, and modesty is a virtue Hugo," Rose teased, and Hugo rolled his eyes, and took off down the hall,

"Catch you later, Rosie! Bye Marcie!" He turned around to wave to her and continued running down the hallway, knocking over a few first years in the process. Marcie laughed and waved to Hugo. The two girls began to turn back around, and they collided face first into black robes. Rose blushed and backed away.

"Oh, I'm so sor - y'know I take that back, you great prick." She bristled when she saw who it was.

"My, my, _Weasley_ , where are your _manners?_ " A cold voice drawled. The voice had long since changed, and was smooth as pudding. It was infuriating. That voice matched a perfect looking face, cool, pale skin and perfectly styled white blonde hair, which contrasted sharply with the dark green eyes that barely showed emotion. His high cheek bones a cupid bow lips made almost every girl fall for him-every girl except Rose Weasley. The two had had a mutual hatred for each other since as long as anyone could remember.

"Seeing as you are an uncultured swine, I didn't see it fit to treat you with respect," Rose shot back quickly, her face turning red with fury. Remember how Rose had Weasley Woman Tongue, but really only reserved it for one person? Yeah, well that person is Scorpius Malfoy.

"I don't see why you shouldn't. Why, the Malfoys have been showing ourselves to be superior wizards for centuries longer than the Weasleys," Scorpius continued, starting to walk past Rose and down the hall. Rose grabbed his arm and whipped the pale Malfoy back around.

"Oh _don't_ fucking go there. Us Weasleys have more wizarding talent in a fingernail than you Malfoys have in your entire family," Rose flushed with anger.

Malfoy seemed unfazed by her temper, "Oh dear, it looks like all that muggle blood in you is going right to your face. I almost forgot you were a Weasley for a moment there. You all flush so easily." Before hell could rain down on Malfoy, Marcie dragged Rose away.

"Oh, get with the times, Malfoy," Marcie huffed exasperatedly, trying to hold her friend back, "It's the twenty first century." Before Malfoy counter with some comment that was equally racist as it was sarcastic, Marcie dragged her friend down the hall. Rose pushed off Marcie's arms and straightened her robes,

"Alright, Marcie, alright, I'm cool. Now give me my wand back." Marcie had filched Rose's wand off of the struggling girl, in fear that the Weasley would curse Malfoy into oblivion. Marcie tucked Rose's wand into her messenger bag defiantly.

"Nope. Not until we have cleared this hallway, I can't trust you not to hex Malfoy. Remember fifth year? I'm not going to pick you up from your detentions for eight weeks again." Marcie stated.

"It was _one_ fractured skull! I haven't gotten detention for fighting since! And in case you don't remember, he caused me to dislocate my knee in that very same fight!" Rose exclaimed, but Marcie didn't give her wand back, and obviously wasn't planning to until they had got to their classroom at the end of the hall. Rose's cheeks still stained a furious red as she huffed, spun on her heel, and marched off down the hall, leaving Marcie to play catch up. They were just about to reach Arithmancy when the little ferret who called himself a Malfoy called out down the hall.

"Oi, Weasley! Look forward to working with you this year!" He yelled, smirking. Rose turned around exasperated.

"Oh what _now_ you great arse?"

"You're Head Girl, aren't you? Never mind that, I see the badge on your robes. I just wanted to say I'll have a _great_ time pissing you off as a fellow Head Boy this year!"

It was a good thing Marcie took Rose's wand, for if she hadn't, Malfoy probably would not be with us today.

* * *

After Arithmancy and a few other classes, it was the end of the day in terms of classes. Rose decided that she should go back up to the girls' dormitories just to pack up her things before Longbottom moved her dormitories. Rose had spent the night in her old dormitory (the seven flights of stairs _never_ got easier to climb). She had stayed up far too late the night before, laughing and catching up with her friends. The herbology professor as well as the Head of Gryffindor House had sent her an owl at breakfast this morning telling her that she would be moved into the Head Girl Dormitories at 6:00 sharp. Looking down at her Muggle watch, she saw that it was 5:15. _Alright, I'll be ready if I just move quickly,_ Rose thought. She bade her goodbyes to Marcie and her other friends, telling them that she'd meet them at the Great Hall for the Second Day Feast in a couple only having been caught on one moving staircase, Rose was at the Fat Lady's portrait within a few minutes. She rifled through her bag and until she found a paper with the new password on it. One of the sixth year prefects from Gryffindor ( _was his name Jeffrey? or maybe Clyde? Oh I can't remember,_ thought Rose) had slipped her this paper at lunch telling her he changed the passwords because the first years couldn't remember the Latin phrases the passwords usually were.

"Password, please," the Fat Lady said pensively as she saw Rose approach. Rose quickly read the paper.

"It isn't over until the Fat Lady sings . . . wait what?" Rose exclaimed, almost laughing out loud.

"I know, I know, I am thoroughly displeased with the password too," The Fat Lady misunderstood Rose's gasp, "Please talk to Prefect Matthew about this."

"I most certainly will," Rose said, holding in a laugh as she stepped through the portrait hole doorway. _Matthew_ , she thought, _Prefect Matthew. That's his name_. She took in a deep breath and looked around. The fire crackled merrily in the center of the room, and the plush red couches were mostly empty. The red and gold decorations all around the room shimmered in the firelight, and the paintings were all rushing around between each other, sharing gossip and whatnot. _Home_ , Rose thought. She began the climb up the seven flights of spiral stairs to the top floor where the seventh years slept. _I will have gained at least a dozen kilos by the time the First Weeks Feasts are over with._ She groaned, holding her stitch in her side. _And I won't have these stairs to get me back into shape._ When she reached the top, she was glad that no one was in the room. As much as she loved her room mates, she just wouldn't be able to hold herself together if they were with her when she said goodbye to the dorm. Rose packed away her robes that had been strewn about the room, and gathered her parchment and books that had already made their way out of her trunk. She sighed as she looked around the room, smiling sadly at all of the half-hung decorations that her year of Gryffindor girls had begin to put up, along with the older, faded posters that the six of them had put up in the years before. She had made some of the best friends of her life with some of the girls who slept here. Rose stared nostalgically around the room before she decided it was no use just standing around the room. She tapped her trunk with her wand three times, muttering a spell to make it shrink and weigh as much as a teaspoon of honey would. She picked up the tiny trunk, glad that she had perfected that charm years ago. Rose stuffed it in her pocket, took one more look around the room, and began her trek down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she took a look at her watch. 5:55. _Shit,_ she thought. She ran out the Common Room, through the portrait hole (much to the chagrin of the Fat Lady - "Miss Rose, a lady _never_ runs!"), and down the mazes of hallways. She reached the golden suit of armor between the Gryffindor and administrative wing with not a moment to spare. Neville, oh, sorry, it was school now, _Professor_ Longbottom was just rounding the corner as she skidded to a stop in front of the suit of armor.

"Ah, Rose, it is good to see you!" he exclaimed, oblivious to the Weasley's panting, "How are you're parents?"

"Great!" she huffed, "They wanted me to, oh god, I'm sorry this is embarrassing, send you their, uh, love." Rose blushed. The herbology professor just chuckled and said,

"Oh okay. I won't say anything to that because I know I would be embarrassed out of my mind if my Gram made me say that. Well, your Head Girl Dormitories are right here. Berutherford," Longbottom nodded at the suit of armor. The golden suit of armor silently saluted and stood to attention. Neville turned to Rose,

"Now, the password is Codswallop, but you can change it once every twenty four hours if you wish - but you have to be inside to change it. Do you want to try to open the door?" Rose nodded and stood forward.

"Codswallop." she said the suit of armor . . . Berutherford. Whatever it was, it turned around and pushed the wall inward, revealing a small hallway leading inwards. Neville nodded to Rose.

"Well, I'll leave you to explore your new quarters. If you have any questions, I'll be in my office doing paperwork."

"Paperwork already? It's only the second day of school!" Rose smiled and Longbottom chuckled in response,

"You have no idea. I have to have all the class plans finished for the month by tonight - I'll see you in class tomorrow!" He said before he pivoted on his foot with a handshake and walked into the dark hallways. Rose stepped through the doorway, excited to see her new quarters. As she stepped into the room, the doorway pushed itself back into the wall, sealing her in. A note was attached to the door in messy scrawl saying

 _If you want to leave the room, just knock twice and I'll open the door._

 _~ Berutherford_

Rose shook her head at that strange suit of armor. _I_ have _to learn what magic makes him sentient_ , Rose began to think, but her thoughts were quickly cut off when she saw her rooms. They were perfect. There was a fireplace on the opposite wall, with a comfy armchair and a loveseat facing it and a small wood table between them. Two large, stately windows stood on either side of the fireplace. Outside of one of them, there was a wisteria vine that looked perfect for climbing down, and only a couple stories down was a secret pathway leading a tree that looked like the best spot by the lake. Rose _definitely_ wanted to explore that later.

Next to the "Great Room", as Rose decided to call it, there was a what seemed like a kitchen - a sink, a small fridge, a few cabinets, and a table with a note on it.

 _Just put a piece of paper with a food order on this table, tap it with your wand once, and that food will appear on the table within five minutes._

 _Best, Winky the Freed House Elf_

Rose smiled - she remembered stories about Winky from her mother. As far as she had heard, Winky had gotten over her utter desolation of being free, and had in fact moved on quite well, and had semi-retired a few years before. However, the work ethic of a house-elf never faded, so Winky still worked part time in the Kitchens. Next the kitchen was a spiral staircase, leading up to what was assumed to be the bedroom. Next to that staircase and to the right of where Rose was standing, there were two doors. She opened the one closest to her and saw a small half-bath. She opened the second and saw the most beautiful private library ever laid eyes upon. The bookshelves were a dark mahogany and thick, red drapes hung over the two large windows facing the lake. There was an ornate desk matching the bookshelves standing in the center of the room, on a red and gold circular carpet. There was a small, cast iron stove by the side of the room, and a red armchair that matched the desk chair. Floating candle floated all around the room, illuminating the two story private library. A golden ladder and walkways along the the second story bookshelves glinted in the dying sunlight coming from those two windows. A bust of some old professor was babbling on one of the bookshelves in the corner of the room.

"Muttonchops, yes, and how about some distarlate, oh, and don't forget the unicorn horns and some intestines of a male skewered ended newt . . ." The bearded stone head muttered to itself. Rose approached the bust cautiously.

"Um, e-excuse me?" She stammered. The head looked up with its vacant eyes.

"Ah! You must be Miss Rose Weasley. Please to meet you my dear, I am Sophecles Prewett - I am, I believe, your ancestor! I am very sorry that I cannot shake your hand, dearie, but as you can see, I don't have hands!" The bust laughed and continued yammering on.

"Oh yes, you are probably wondering what I am doing here. Well, if you tap my nose with your wand - only your wand, it can't be someone else's, mind you - a secret passageway will open into the library!" Rose stared at it, astonished.

"What? But the library is on the other side of the castle!" Sophecles smiled good naturedly and winked.

"Ah yes, well, my dear, that is what magic is for, isn't it?" And the bust continued talking, even after Rose excused herself. After she got over the shock of the beauty of that library, she left the room and climbed up the staircase to the bedroom. It looked exactly like the bedrooms in Gryffindor Tower, except smaller with only one canopied bed in the center. There was a rug in the center of the room with an armchair and a side table. There was a desk in the corner, a wardrobe pushed up against the wall, and large windows all on the wall behind the bed. A simple room, yet tasteful and elegant. A small but practical bathroom lead off of the only door in the room. There was about an hour and a half until dinner, so Rose decided to start writing her letters. Her mother had written one for her last night - her father never wrote one during her first week, protesting it would be too embarrassing for his daughter to get letters from her parents first week. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry always send a letter together to both her and Hugo the first night, and the rest of her Aunt and Uncles and grandparents send in letters at some point within the first week.

Rose sat down and started writing out her letter to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny when she got a familiar tingling sensation in her right hand. She assumed it was just because she hadn't been accustomed to writing all summer, but eventually the tingling became to much to ignore. Rose looked down at the palm of the hand, already knowing she'd see the familiar looping scrawl inked magically into her hand.

 ** _Please come meet me by our spot._**

Her face grew heated just seeing it. She ran to her trunk and took out the special bottle of ink and a ballpoint pen she had since first year. She put the ink in the pen and wrote back on her left hand:

 _Why should I, you great twat?_ She tapped her wand on her hand and the message disappeared. A few moments later, the earlier message on her hand disappeared and a new one appeared.

 **I see you kept your ink - guess you care about me :).**

Rose rolled her eyes and scrawled back message.

 _In your dreams, fart-breath._

 ** _Fart-breath? How your insults have fallen - not even a jab at my family name? Pity, just when I thought you, occasionally, would be a decent spar. Besides, most girls would be ecstatic to have a secret meeting with me._**

 _If this is a date proposal, I am shocked that you actually thought you could get up to my level._

 ** _As if I would stoop down to date you. No, I just need to talk._** There was a brief moment where neither Rose nor the entity on the other side of the pen said anything. All of a sudden, the loopy handwriting returned.

 ** _It's about my father_** ** _._**

Rose quickly scribbled back a response.

 _I'll be there._

* * *

 **A/N: Haha I legit just rediscovered my old account here and decided to write something. Probably shit, but better than some of my old writing, I hope! Tell me what you think please!**

* * *

 **A/N Updated: All right, so after writing chapter 6, I decided that this story needed some revising for the sake of the plot. I hope you guys like the changes! I tried to give Rose more personality early on, and since Marcie and Hugo will play some bigger roles later on, I decided to give them some more air time here, along with Scorpius. I'll be revising the following chapters in the next few days. And please, I really don't want to seem desperate, but I am - review review review!**

 **Posted: 10/25/15**

 **Updated: 3/24/16**


	2. In Which We Meet Scorpius

**A/N: I'm baaccckkkk. Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!**

* * *

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _There was a brief moment where neither Rose nor the entity on the other side of the pen said anything. All of a sudden, the loopy handwriting returned._

 **It's about my father** **.**

 _Rose quickly scribbled back a response._

I'll be there.

* * *

"Oi, Malfoy! Get your pretty arse over here!" Fred Weasley yelled at his friend down the hall. Scorpius turned around just in time to see a green flash of light heading his way. To avoid the probable hair coloring curse, a personal specialty - and favorite - of Fred's, he dropped his bag and ducked. The curse hit some seventh year girl, who shrieked and cast a glare at Fred while clutching her head of blue hair. Oh and this girl just _happened_ to be the girl Fred had been crushing on for three years.

"Bollocks!" Fred exclaimed not too quietly. Several nearby third years gasped and clapped their hands over their ears, while Fred just rolled his eyes at them and flipped them off, because, y'know, that's just how Fred rolls. This, of course, just made the kids recoil even more in horror. Laughing, Scorpius gathered his bag quickly and jogged down the hall to meet the horrified Fred.

"That, my friend, was priceless!" Scorpius clapped his friend on the back.

"Holy shit," Fred said, still horrified, running his hands through his dark hair, "Why did you fucking duck? I didn't mean to hit Katie goddamn Willard! Oh shit, I'm so sorry -" Fred quickly ran up to the girl, apologized, and cast the counter-curse before Katie could cause any serious harm. Scorpius slung his arm around his friend, still laughing.

"Sorry mate, I don't really like look blue hair on me - it makes my skin look bleached. Besides, you happen to never want to reverse the curse for at least another day, so I think I dodged a bullet there."

"Scor, I'm serious! God I feel so bad! If it were you, now I wouldn't care I thought it would be hilarious to see you, but oh god, now Katie'll hate me . . ." Fred toyed with his wand nervously, watching the now blonde Katie grab her hair and cast one more withering glare at Fred, and disappear into a classroom.

As Fred being the son of a Weasley (George and Angelina), there were three things set for him. He would be notoriously good at pranks, he would be sorted into Gryffindor, and he and Malfoy were bound to have a rivalry. Well, Fred wasn't one to play by the rules. Fred was indeed a master prankster and a Gryffindor, but also he and Scorpius became fast friends within the first five minutes of meeting each other on the train in their first year. No one knows how - the two were different in almost every way, but somehow, they managed to be great friends. Their friendship, of course, was kept as much secret as possible, as if anyone from either side of their families heard about the friendship, shit would flip. Fred's cousins didn't much care, but it was more the parents of either parties that the two were worried about.

"Fred, if it were any other person, you would feel no shame whatsoever," Scorpius laughed at his friend's misfortune.

"Oh, bugger off, you git!" Fred shoved his friend. Scorpius laughed again and simply changed the subject.

"Well, I've got to be off anyways, I have The History of the Wizarding World."

"Sucks to be you, mate. Binns first thing in the morning?" Fred jostled his friend's shoulder.

"I know! Well, I think Katie's in my class, and she's got an ass I could distract myself with." Scorpius teased his friend. Fred's ears turned a violent shade of pink, which meant he was impressively embarrassed by the topic, for his darker skin and lack of conscience usually meant that it was hard to tell if Fred actually felt any guilt at all.

"Well, I know you wouldn't do anything about that, you've got the hots for my cousin!" Fred shot back.

"You mean Rose?" Scorpius scoffed, "Like hell I would like her."

"Ay, watch it Malfoy, that's my cousin you're talking about." Fred's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I know, Weasley, and I don't hold it against you your cousin sucks." Scorpius said back.

"Alright then, I'll take it. You're not cursing her name this time I bring her up." Fred laughed. He knew that Rose and Scorpius didn't get along - in fact, he counted on it. Rose, usually the observant one, was always flustered and mad whenever the name "Malfoy" was brought up, so she would never suspect their friendship - if she did, that would be a bit of a problem, as she was a tiny bit of a tattle tale. Besides, the two cousins weren't that close - there were at least 35 cousins somehow all related to the Weasley branch, they couldn't just all be best friends, now could they? And if Fred were to be honest, while he loved his family, he found Rose a bit annoying; too much of a goody two shoes for his taste. Scorpius just grumbled angrily at the mention of his nemesis.

"Ah well mate, I'll leave you be for Transfiguration! See ya later!" Ever the truant, Fred split off from his friend, whistling and casting small prank spells on unsuspecting first and second years as he ambled down the opposite hall. Fred was smart as hell, and took some high level classes, but if a seventh year didn't skip Divination at some point in their year, they were bloody insane, in Scorpius' opinion. The Malfoy just rolled his eyes and joined up with another friend, Rocco Zabini down the hall.

"Ay mate, where you going?" Scorpius looked over Zabini's shoulder to see his schedule.

"History of the Wizarding World." Rocco groaned.

"Same, mate. We should head there now, we're gonna be late." Scorpius told his friend. Zabini nodded and the two went off down the hall, talking about the new broomstick endorsed by Victor Krum. They hardly noticed a group of giggling fifth year girls following them down the hall.

Zabini, admittedly, was good looking. He had dark hair that curled slightly at the end in an unruly manner, electric blue eyes that always had a hint of mystery in them, and a cocky smirk that could make any girl swoon. He was a great Quidditch player, a chaser. Though a bit of an aristocratic ass sometimes, he wouldn't be outright as bad as is father was. Naturally, all the girls loved him. But he would always play second fiddle to Scorpius.

Oh, how to describe Scorpius Malfoy. He was beautiful, that's for sure. His white blond hair was just so perfectly between unruly and neat, and his eyes were bright, unusual green under dark, heavy eyebrows. His sculpted jawline and cheekbones were strong enough to cut marble, and his strong nose screamed power. He inherited his father's coloring, but his beautiful mother's features, in that his eyes crinkled up every so slightly so it looked like he was always smirking at something.

He had a tall, muscular frame, which was only improved by his constant Quidditch playing. The best Seeker that the Slytherin Quidditch team had seen since the nineteenth century, he was. Probably the best Quidditch player at all of Hogwarts since, well, Harry Potter himself. Of course, Hugo Weasley certainly gave him a run for his money on that claim. It was no surprise that he was the Slytherin Quidditch team captain for the past two years. He had several female admirers - as well as a few male, because, honestly, Scorpius could turn anyone. He had a certain . . . reputation about his ability to please. Oh yes, Scorpius Malfoy was definitely a ladies' man.

His eyebrow was always quick to quirk and a snide comment was always at the ready, as per the usual for a Malfoy. And though he wasn't a racist pure blood like many of the elitist wizards, he _could_ fit in with those people, and he could "turn on" such tendencies at will - if only to appease his Grandfather Lucius. But at school, such behavior was never used by Malfoy unless it was . . . well, we'll come to that later - and he only made such comments to make a reaction. But overall, Scorpius was actually a decent guy, aside from the occasional sarcastic comment or general boyish catcall **(A/N not condoning catcalling here at all, fyi)**.

Despite the astonishing amount of time Scorpius spent on Quidditch and girls, he somehow was one of the smartest students in Hogwarts. All the students thought he was a perfect little angel, even though he had the reputation to be sort of a "bad boy". It was no wonder Scorpius got Head Boy. He was top of almost all of his classes - that is, except the classes he shared with Rose Weasley. Which was just about every class.

Rose Weasley. The very name caused the blood in his veins to boil. God she was just so, well she was just so . . . well she was Rose Weasley, that's what she was! She was infuriating - rude, arrogant, and just _so fucking self righteous_ about everything she did! Well, it was actually very funny to see her riled up, so Scorpius usually did whatever he could to make her angry. That's probably why she was so rude to him, but still! Whenever she would beat out Scorpius in a grade (there was no "if" as a factor - she was smarter than him hands down, though he loathed to admit it) she would flip her hair over her shoulder, give a little smirk, then flounce off to her friends. Ugh! If she wasn't so stupidly perfect in her grades and all. That girl brought out the long buried instincts his grandfather had tried to instill into him before his death - the Weasleys had impure blood and had wronged the Malfoys. Family loyalty, eh? Then you better hate those bloody Weasleys, Grandie Lucie would say. _Ha, like hell they they wronged the Malfoy name,_ Malfoy often thought, _they didn't make you join the little skull snake club._ Scorpius never held anyone's blood against them (though Zabini occasionally did), but she would make him say things he didn't mean just to get a rise out of her. Despite how much he hated her, he would always make the insults indirect. He really wasn't a racist. He really wasn't. Speaking of Miss Weasley, Scorpius and Zabini were almost to Binn's classroom at the end of the hall when they collided into a small figure with massive red hair and a tall blonde. Quick as a flash, Malfoy sent a silencing charm on Zabini, because Rocco couldn't always keep his instincts in check when it came to wizarding blood - or rather, Rocco knew that there was nothing he really could insult the two for, and so he would resort to old racist techniques. The mass of red hair pushed itself off of Scorpius' robes, beginning to apologize,

"Oh I'm so sor- y'know I take that back, you great prick," said the one and only Rose Weasley, flush already coming up her cheeks. Oh this was just too easy for Malfoy. He smirked and adopted the cold drawl he had when he wanted to appear "pureblood".

"My, my, _Weasley_ , where are your _manners_?"

"Seeing as you are an uncultured swine, I didn't see it fit to treat you with respect," Rose shot back, brushing herself off. Silent Zabini was positively stewing at this comment, who would probably have gone into a full on rant about the ungrateful "mudbloods" in this school, because he knew that their insults were valid and that he really could do nothing else. Zabini still had his wand and was looking all to eager to use it on Weasley, so Malfoy decided to appease Rocco a little bit, though it disgusted him to say such words.

"I don't see why you shouldn't. Why, the Malfoys have been showing ourselves to be superior wizards for centuries longer than the Weasleys," Scorpius continued. He technically wasn't lying. The Weasley family name wasn't introduced to the Wizarding World until 1601, while the Malfoys had been known to be around since ancient times. At least, that't what Scorpius told himself. Just to piss her off, Scorpius started to walk past Rose and down the hall. The tiny girl grabbed his arm and whipped the Scorpius back around to hard that his teeth rattled.

"Oh _don't_ fucking go there. Us Weasleys have more wizarding talent in a fingernail than you Malfoys have in your entire family," Rose pointed a shaking finger at him, flushing a terrible shade of magenta. _Oh Merlin_ , Scorpius thought, _I'm gonna have to finish it off._

"Oh dear, it looks like all that _muggle_ blood is going right to your face. Pity - I almost forgot you were a Weasley for a moment there. You all flush _so_ _easily_." Zabini smirked silently, and Malfoy knew there was a crisis that was averted. Rose, though, looked like she was about to explode, her face fire-engine red. Her friend ("Marnie? Maria maybe?" Rocco later questioned - Scorpius just rolled his eyes and turned his eyes back to his textbook) dragged Rose away before she could cast any dick-hex-off curses she knew away.

"Oh, get with the times Malfoy - it's the twenty first century." The girl ("It is definitely Marnie!" Rocco decided) replied over her shoulder as she walked away with her friend. Scorpius just smirked and cast the counter charm for Zabini over his shoulder as they walked away.

"The nerve of some people," Zabini crinkled his perfect, inbred, pureblood nose. "I still believe that such scum shouldn't be allowed in to Hogwarts." Scorpius cringed internally - if their fathers weren't best friends, Scorpius honestly would have never associated with Zabini. Rocco wasn't nearly as bad as Blaise, but he just got worked up and said some pretty bad things, as he knew that there was no defense for what his father did in the war - but Rocco sure as hell would try to protect his family. If there was anything pureblood families taught, if they taught absolutely _nothing_ else, they taught family pride. Despite all of this, Malfoy couldn't resist one more comment back to Rose.

"Oi, Weasley! Look forward to working with you this year!" He smirked as he saw her mass of red curly hair whip back around.

"Oh what now, you great arse?" She called exasperatedly. Scorpius felt color rise to his cheeks imperceptibly, anger going through his core.

"You're Head Girl, aren't you?" He asked. Scorpius made sure he put as much nastiness and sarcasm as possible into the his next sentences, "Never mind that, I see that badge on your robes. I just wanted to say I'll have a _great_ time pissing you off as your fellow Head Boy this year!"

Zabini later expressed surprise that Malfoy made it out of that corridor alive.

* * *

 **(A/N - this next part will be similar in that Malfoy will get his Head Boy rooms which I picture to be the same layout but decorated in green, so I won't really go into detail with this next part)**

Malfoy hadn't bothered to send his things up to the Slytherin dorms, as he knew he would be getting a new Head Boy room, so he just sent his belongings there upon his arrival. He got a note from Professor Binns, saying that he was too lazy to get out of his classroom (do ghosts even have energy? Can they even get lazy? All legitimate questions in Scorpius' opinion), and that his new dormitories were on the fourth floor behind a small painting of a laughing kiwi. One of his admirers, some girl whose name Scorpius had forgotten, had insisted on coming with him to find his dormitories. Something about breaking in the bed with him. Malfoy was just about to give up and believe that the most boring professor that had ever existed had pulled a practical joke on him and there was no such painting when he heard a faint squeal. At first thinking it was the bimbo hanging off of his arm, Malfoy ignored it. However, he realized that the high pitched squeal was indeed not coming from the girl after seeing that the girls mouth was most certainly _not_ moving. Cautiously drawing his wand, the girl back away from him, looking alarmed. She backed into a painting, and an extreme fit of giggles burst out into the air. Scorpius sighed and pushed the girl out of the way to see the painting. Shaking behind a bowl, painted in green oil pastels, was a kiwi shaking -positively shaking - with laughter.

"The little shit!" Scorpius muttered quietly. Tapping the painting three times with his wand and muttering "Abstergo", as the instructions told him too, Scropius reached behind the small painting. Tt swung out, revealing a doorknob behind it. Scorpius grasped the doorknob and pushed in the door that seemed to just appear on the stone wall. As soon as he did so, the girl, who Scorpius had honestly forgotten about at this point, sidled up to the Head Boy and tried to go in for a kiss. Scorpius pushed her off. She pouted, thinking this was a game.

"No, go to the feast - no, stop, Kayla - it's Kayla wasn't it?" Scorpius asked the girl weakly. The girl - obviously not Kayla- looked offended and simply walked off without another word with a birdie flipped over her shoulder.

Inside his new dormitories, Scorpius found a small living room, a kitchenette, a half bath, and a staircase leading up to a large oval bedroom and bathroom room. A second door on the first floor, next to the half bath, turned out to be a secret passageway to a secret chamber that held a shower and a closet to hold robes that had another secret entrance into the Slytherin locker rooms for Quidditch. All adequate arrangements for a Malfoy, he decided, though his rooms at home were much more luxurious.

Scorpius was getting ready to go down to the feast when he noticed a scarlet red envelope lying on the living room table. Oh no, he thought. This could only be from one person. Before the Howler could explode, Scorpius dashed upstairs and threw open his trunk. He ripped through all of his carefully folded belongings (his doing, not his mothers - Scorpius was a bit of a neat freak), and found the box buried underneath all of his clothes. He was hoping he wouldn't have had to use it, things had gone so well over the summer . . .

The envelope beginning to growl tore Scorpius from his thoughts. Malfoy dashed down the stairs and threw the envelope into the box, shutting the lid just in time to hear the explosion. Scorpius had perfected this box in the fourth year - any howlers put in it explode and will not be recited to you, but, like all magic, it had a catch - all of the painstaking charms it took hours to construct would be stripped away, and would have to be replaced. Scorpius sighed, running a hand through his hair. An unfamiliar stinging took at his eyes. Malfoy quickly swiped his eyes, refusing to believe that tears were almost coming - he hadn't cried since he was six years old an broke his arm - he believed nothing could have hurt more then. He was wrong - a broken family hurts much, much more.

Scorpius sighed and dealt with this the only way he knew how - he took out his special ink bottle.

 **A/N Crappy? Not crappy? I don't know. How bout y'all tell me in reviews and follows/favorites?**

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 **A/N Updated: AYYYYYYY not much to say, other than thanks for reading! The changes I did make were just to work out some inconsistencies that I realized that were starting**

 **Posted: Ummmm idk maybe 11/27/15? I forget. :P I know I'm awful**

 **Updated: 3/24/16**


	3. In Which The Unexpected Was

**A/N What's up suckers? Guess who wrote two fucking chapters in one weekend - this bitch right here. Now I would say guess who Rose is meeting at her "secret place" but y'all are clever, I'm sure you know, but if you don't, well then . . . without further ado, chapter three!**

 **Trigger Warning: Mentions of alcoholism**

 **What happened last chapter:**

 _Scorpius sighed, running a hand through his hair. An unfamiliar stinging took at his eyes. Malfoy quickly swiped his eyes, refusing to believe that tears were almost coming - he hadn't cried since he was six years old an broke his arm - he believed nothing could have hurt more then. He was wrong - a broken family hurts much, much more._

 _Scorpius sighed and dealt with this the only way he knew how - he took out his special ink bottle._

* * *

Rose pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair, shielding herself from the torrential rain. As much as she loved Hogwarts, she had to admit that the weather was shitty all year until the spring. Casting a dry charm over herself, she swung her leg out of the window over the wisteria vine. Slithering down the branches, she landed on the muddy, wet ground with a thud, almost slipping as the water poured down the hill. The Weasley turned her head against the rain and trudged her way to the Quidditch field.

She didn't know why she was doing it. There was no logic to the ever rational Rose could decipher from this situation. But she did it anyways, for some stupid ass reason. Rose would tell you to call it what you will, sentiment, or even delusion - but if you said fate, she would fuck your shit up. They were not _destined_ to do this. Destiny could be left to Professor Trelawney.

"Bollocks!" She shout-whispered, falling down the hill that lead to the Quidditch pitch. In the fall, she lost her wand.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit with a McGonagall on top!" She cursed, rain seeping into her clothes and getting under her dry charm. The redhead groped around blindly for her wand. In her struggle, her hood fell down, revealing to anyone who could have been watching her telltale bush of red hair. A strong arm yanked her not to gently up to her feet and pushed the slippery wand back into her hand.

"Thanks," She muttered and pulled her hood back up over her dripping hair, already knowing who the person was. Rose and her partner, both cloaked against the rain, rain up the fifth audience seating column in the Quidditch field, up and around wooden stairs and behind a thick curtain to a small room. Rose sat down on a bench, casting a quick dry spell again and shook her hair out of her cloak.

"So what's up?" She said, leaning forward on a seat. The cloaked figure finished making a small fire in the hearth and sat down on the opposing bench from Rose. The figure removed the hood of his cloak, revealing the one and only Scorpius two silently just lookd at each other for a few moments before Rose raised an expectant eyebrow.

"It-it's my father again." He said, burying his head in his hands trying to hide his voice crack.

Oh yes. The Rose Weasley and the Scorpius Malfoy were sitting in a room together. By their own will. Voluntarily. No neither were drunk, or even slightly under the influence. And yes, somehow the two were being . . . civil to one another. How is that? Well, I suppose it all started back in their first year at Hogwarts.

 _Rose Weasley was walking back from her last class, Astronomy. As per usual, the class was at night and was let out just before midnight. Rose, being the gullible little twit she was at eleven years old, believed her cousin James when he said there was a secret short cut back to the Gryffindor Common Room through the dungeons. So there she was, five of midnight, slinking through the dungeons trying to find the painting of Sir Wallace Longbottom. All of a sudden, she heard a faint sniffling noise. A quiet sniffle, barely audible. The little Weasley turned the corner cautiously, her wand drawn as if she would actually be able to defend herself a full grown wizard threat if it were there. As she rounded the corner, she expected to see maybe a dark wizard, or maybe one of Hagrid's rogue pets. She certainly did not expect to see her rival Scorpius Malfoy curled up in a ball in a small alcove looking as if he was about to cry. Scorpius hadn't seem to notice her yet - she could have just left him there and no one would would know, and she could just forget about the whole situation. But little Rose Weasley was an empathetic little prat, and so she pulled herself over to Malfoy, all the while chastising herself for doing something definitely stupid. She reached over and tapped Scorpius on the shoulder._

 _"Um, are you okay?" She asked quietly. Scorpius' head shot up._

 _"I don't know what you're talking about, Weasley," he said coldly, quickly scrubbing away any traces of tears._

 _"Look, I was just trying to help - " Rose began defensively, only to be cut off by Malfoy._

 _"I don't need your help." He snapped. Rose sniffed and straightened._

 _"Fine then. See if I care." Rose turned around and flounced away with her nose in the air._

 _"Look, I'm sorry!" Malfoy called after her dejectedly, "I didn't mean it." Rose froze in her tracks. She had never heard Malfoy apologize for anything in these first four months of school. Neither said anything for several moments._

 _"Well are you gonna tell me what's wrong or not? I'd rather not just stand here and wait until Filch finds us here and we get detention." Rose tapped her foot impatiently, rather unkindly._

 _"It's just my father." Scorpius mumbled, his eyes never leaving the ground. Rose hesitantly took a seat next to him in the alcove._

 _"Yeah, so, what about him?" She asked. She never liked Mr. Malfoy, not only as a Weasley, but after seeing him in the station, he seemed like a pretentious little dickhead. Of course, Rose Weasley was eleven years old, and she didn't think those words exactly, that was reserved for her father. But you get the main idea. In reality, Malfoy had actually done pretty well for himself - well, as well as a Malfoy could have done in the modern climate. He had opened several charities promoting Muggle-Wizard relations with his now heavily taxed but still massive inheritance._

 _"What do you care? We hate each other." Scorpius burst out suddenly, head still buried in his arms, knees tucked up. Rose reached over and carefully touched his back._

 _"How about this. You tell me what's going on, and this will never leave this hallway. We can go back to hating each other after this." Rose proposed._

 _"But why do you even_ want _to help me? Our families hate each other." Malfoy asked, still suspicious of Rose._

 _"Well I think I can think beyond my family for a couple minutes, thank you very much, and I hope you can too." Rose said, rather affronted._

 _"Fine. If you can do it, I certainly can." Scorpius said, rather proudly. There was a silence between the too for a bit._

 _"Well? Are you gonna tell me or not?" Rose prodded, jostling Scorpius' leg with her knee._

 _"Fine. Before I start, I just want to let you know my father is a great man. He may have done things wrong in the past, but he has always ended up doing good in the world," Scorpius' fingers nervously danced across his knees - he had never told anyone this before. "It's just - no one really knows what it was like with the Death Eaters in the Second War." Both of the children shuddered at the mention of the evil organization._

 _"Everyone just sees one side of the war, the terror that the winners faced but triumphed despite of. No one cares about the good Death Eaters. No one knows except my father and his parents what the initiation process was for him. What he saw. What he was forced to do."_

 _"No one forced your dad to join the Death Eaters. No one made him do the awful -_ awful _\- things he did._ " _Rose said icily._

 _Scorpius balled his fists, clenched his eyes shut, and rocked back and forth,_

 _"That's not true. That's not_ true! _My father is a great man." He hissed._

" _Okay, okay, your father is a great man, Malfoy, let's move on." Rose rolled her eyes._ _Scorpius developed a steely, almost protective glint in his green eyes._

"All _the rest of the Death Eaters are dead or in Azkaban. The only reason Grandmother Cissa and my dad weren't thrown in to Azkaban was because famous little Potter vouched for them. They needed it, even though they didn't do anything wrong. Otherwise, they would've had to go. But my grandfather was sent to Azkaban. He got out five years before he died on a plea deal. My father said that he himself didn't do much when he was a Death Eater, but he saw a lot of. It was horrible. And sometimes, you know, all that horror catches up to you." Rose secretly noted how strange it was for a child their age to be talking like this. Scorpius continued._

 _"And maybe, because it helped for him to forget, he's taken up drinking." Rose gasped quietly, but Scorpius was determined to finish._

 _"My father has always had a volatile temper. And sometimes, it . . . flares up during his drinking episodes, that's all!" Malfoy ended defensively._

 _"He doesn't - he doesn't - does he?" Rose asked timidly, feeling much too young to be asking such a question, and could not find herself to finish. Malfoy understood what she was trying to say though._

 _"No, no, never. My father would never hit me. He loves me," Scorpius defended the elder Malfoy quickly, "It's just . . . he will say things - well he will say things that have an effect y'know? Using, er, strong language, to, uh, describe how much of a burden I am." Scorpius finished dejectedly._

 _"Stupid of me to even care, right?" he asked to, it seemed, no one in particular except himself. There was a silence between the two for a bit wherebefore Rose shifted towards the pale haired boy._

 _"D'you know why my father quit being an Auror?" Rose asked quietly. Scorpius smirked slightly._

 _"I feel like now would not be a good time to make a jab at your family?" he asked._

 _"Definitely not a good time," Rose said sharply. She inhaled slowly, trying to keep herself together, then continued._

 _"It was because of the nightmares. On those Auror raids, he would see things that would remind him too much of the War, and he had some_ serious _PTSD moments. He realized how much this job was destroying him after he almost mistook Mom for a Death Eater and almost sent a Crucio curse at her." The little Weasley shot Malfoy a look._

 _"And my father was - and is still - a great man. But PTSD can screw with you. So as soon as he realized what was happening, he quit being an Auror and took a job helping my uncle George in his joke shop. It was a much better fit for him, he always loved making kids happy." Rose smiled sadly._

 _"But the trauma still comes around for both my parents, especially Dad. But I realize that's part of him, even if sometimes what he says or does isn't necessarily kind. Sometimes, I just need someone to talk to. Someone our age." The little Weasley looked Scorpius right in the eye. The word "our" hung between the two in the air, "And I know there are very few people willing to do such a thing." Another moment of quiet fell between the two, but this time, it was more comfortable - if only a tiny bit._

 _"Look," Scorpius said suddenly, "Don't read too much into it. I . . . appreciate your help and all, but this is never to leave this corridor." He shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of how close he was to a sworn enemy._

 _"I'm still gonna hate you, but if you ever need to talk too. . . well, just send me an owl." Scorpius finished hurriedly. Rose hopped off the alcove, smiling slightly._

 _"Good to know. See you 'round, nitwit."_

 _"See you 'round, idiot!" Scorpius called down after the girl in the hallway._

 _Because those are the best insults eleven year olds can think of._

* * *

Oh, do not mistake this fragile alliance between the two as friendship. Or even a relationship that included fondness. The two still hated each other with a burning passion. Their fights were legendary, better than the infamous James Potter's and Lily Evans' fights before they began dating. Scorpius was still a pretentious asshole, and Rose was still a bitchy teacher's pet with an explosive temper, and the two still went at each other's throats endlessly. They just found that when it came to personal parent struggles, it was easier to talk to each other, who understood each other's problems, than any of their friends. And that was exactly why Scorpius had called upon Rose on that blustery, rainy Hogwarts evening. And do not get me wrong, this was a two sided relationship - Rose had called upon Scorpius just as often as he called on her. Sometimes, they each just needed someone to _get_ it. During their third year, the two brewed the ink. They never got together to do it. It was a silent agreement that they would each check on the potion every other night. Naturally, they brewed it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom - even then nobody used the bathroom. The ink was a from a special book that Malfoy had found in the library by a strange group of men called the Marauders. Since then, the two had used the ink instead of the rather suspicious owls. It's not like Malfoy's massive, rare, black owl Achilles could have gone and plopped a letter down in front of Rose without someone noticing.

"It's my father again," Malfoy had said, his head in his hands. Rose walked over to his bench cautiously, sat down next to him and waited for the green eyed young man to continue. Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, stressed.

"It's just - it's just we were getting along so well this summer. Why did he take such a turn? He only sends Howlers when he's piss drunk." Scorpius sighed, lying down on the bench so his head was on Weasley's lap, feet stretched out, and the two looking at each other in this position. A common pose between the two. Again, do not mistake this position as affection. The two students hated each other, but in this Quidditch tent, they were not Scorpius and Rose. They were not Weasleys or Malfoys. They were simply two people who needed comfort in their lives. Not sex comfort, but simply someone to talk to judge-free, no strings attached. Rose still thought Malfoy was an insufferable git, and Malfoy still thought Weasley was a right bitch, but here, they let that all go, forgetting everything and all that happened inside the castle, and as soon as they stepped back into the castle, they resumed their old lives. To ensure this complete transition, they used nicknames for each other to completely let go of the outside world.

"I just don't know what to fucking do, Red." He gazed downwards, the corners of his eyes feeling ever so slightly damp, "I try and a try, but I just can't fucking deal with this shit anymore." Scorpius said, a tear leaking from his eye. Rose, who had absentmindedly been playing with Scorpius' pale locks, started at the sight of that tear. In all their years of talking about these awful things in their lives, Rose had never seen Scorpius cry. Sure, she cried, plenty of times, but she had begun to wonder if Malfoy actually could cry. Noticing his tear, Scorpius scrunched up his face and wiped roughly at his face.

"Oh goddammit, now I'm crying. I can't believe that I have sunk this fucking low." Malfoy quickly sat up, turning away from Rose slightly. The Weasley put her hand firmly on his strong shoulder and pulled it so he was facing her again.

"Look, Scor," She began, a voice of steel, "Sometimes talking can only help so much. I know you have some fucking crazy internal rule never to cry, but throwing a damn tantrum every now and then won't make the bloody world stop spinning. You're not any less of a man to cry. In fact, I think it takes some real balls for a guy to realize when he needs to fucking cry." Rose put her hands around his face and jerked it towards her and she looked directly in his eyes.

"So cry, Scorpius."

And cry he did. That night, Scorpius let loose all the tears he had bottled up over the years. He cried for the world. He cried for his mother. He cried for his father. He cried for his grandparents. He cried for himself. He cried so hard some snot came out of his attractive nose. And yet, he didn't feel any less of himself for it. In fact, he felt worlds better.

"Thanks." He said to Rose, voice still hoarse.

"Don't mention it." She replied. The two put out the fire and walked back to the castle together in silence against the still black night. The rain had stopped, and the Not an awkward silence, but one where both participants know everything they need to know and don't need to talk about it. Where the two usually split at the castle doors, Rose turned to leave. She had her fingers on the doorknob when she felt Scorpius' hand on her shoulder. She turned around confused, as the two never really spoke outside the Quidditch field. She turned to see the sorrowful face of Scorpius Malfoy.

"Look, I just want to say I'm sorry for what I said earlier today, I feel really bad about-" he began.

"Whatever, fucktard," Rose interrupted with an admittedly immature insult, not wanting to get into this.

"No, really, Rose," Scorpius talked over her, trying to get out what he was trying to say. "I'm sorry. There's no excuse for saying what I did, and I hope you can forgive me." His eyes were pleading. It was strange, never once before did either of them apologize for what happened outside the Quidditch pitch.

"Scorpius it's fine! I don't need your apologies."

"No it's not, there's no excuse - Oof!" Scorpius began, only to be cut off by Rose punching him around his middle. And damn, did she had a hard punch.

"Look, it's fine, Malfoy. I have said worse things to you, you bastard." She smirked and turned on her heel to walk down into the dark corridor, making sure that her heel ground into his foot as she turned. Malfoy yelped in pain and the moment of bonding snapped between the two. Malfoy was angry for being left in such a way without a real comeback.

"Fuck you, you two-faced she-devil!" He yelled at her down the hall, still clutching his injured foot. Rose didn't turn around and simply flipped him off and called a casual "Fuck you" back at him. Malfoy watched her disappear, seething, before turning on his heel and setting off into the darkness in the opposite direction. _I fucking hate that bitch,_ he thought as he stalked off back to his rooms. He had better get more than three hours of sleep, Divination was tomorrow, and it was hard enough as it was to stay awake in that class fully rested.

 **So what'cha think about the Scorpius/Rose moment? I know that there may be a lot of question regarding the nature of their relationship, but I will continue that in more chapters later!**

 **I may not be able to update for a while, 'cause swim season is starting soon so I'll barely have time. But I wanted to crank this last one out for you before the break - I hope you thought it wasn't too shitty!**

 **As always, please review and follow/favorite if you liked!**

 **~RestisRustandStardust**

* * *

 **Updated A/N: Okay, so again, just trying to smooth out some inconsistencies and trying to put some more character depth into them and their relationship. Also, just an update on the updates (hahaha omg I promise I'm funny I really am), I think I'm just going to post all of the new updates I've finished now (so chapters 1-3) and will post 4-6 as I go. PLEEEEEEEASSSSSSE REVIEW!**

 **Posted: 11/30/15**

 **Updated: 12/2/15**

 **Updated 2: 3/25/16**


	4. In Which Hell Rains Down Upon Hogwarts

**A/N: Hello my good people of fanfiction! Thank you SO much for following and reviewing – I always appreciate anything you can give to me for advice! So, I'm trying out for my high school swim team, and I won't be able to update often if I make it, so I'm chugging out some updates and chapters now!**

Rose Weasley _seemed_ perfect. She had a perfect family, a perfect face, a perfect GPA (with the one bloody exception of Divination, but who the fuck cares about that subject anyways), was a perfect Head Girl for these past two months, despite the sabatoges her fellow Head Boy tried. And she knew it. And so when her friend, Marcie, got the Special Award for Services to the School of the seventh year, well . . . Rose wasn't happy. She wanted to be happy for her friend, but she just couldn't work up the appropriate cheeriness to actually go up and congratulate Marcie. _I deserve that award far more than she,_ Rose's bad thoughts betrayed her wishes, saying cruel things about Marcie and how she didn't deserve the award at all. Rose tried to ignore the thoughts, she tried to celebrate with Marcie and the rest of her friends, but she just couldn't find herself able to do so.

Rose's group of friends were seated at a table in the Gryffindor common room (Rose had discovered that her secret passageway had a fork, one end leading to the library, the other to the common room for easy access), passing around a bottle of butterbeer that had been filled with firewhiskey in celebration of Marcie's award. The common rooms were rather open throughout the houses now, so Marcie, a Hufflepuff, Linda, a Gryffindor, Derek, a Gryffindor, Yvonne, a Ravenclaw, and Amoury, a Beauxbatons exchange student, could all gather in the common room with little to no conflict.

"Pass the bottle, Linda," Yvonne slurred slightly. Now, Rose and her friends rarely ever drank, and got drunk even less, but as this was Rosh Hashana (a holiday really only celebrated by the Muggle borns, but, in the recent spirit of inclusiveness by the Hogwarts Education Board, they deemed this day a holiday for Hogwarts), and there were no classes either that day nor the next two because there were never any weekend classes, they felt it was okay to crack open a bottle of firewhiskey Derek had been saving for a special occasion. The other five students were rather tipsy, but Rose was no lightweight, and had been able to hold her own.

"To Marcie!" Yvonne, Derek, Amoury and Linda chorused, and they all drank a shot, the bottle being tossed from person to person. Marcie laughed. Rose tried to do the same, but her face must have looked like it was grimacing more than smiling.

" 'Ey Rosie, y'okayyyyy?" Amoury slurred, his French accent becoming more pronounced with his increasing drunkeness, "Not ze star of zis show, eh?"

"Oh, I think this is really pissing her off. Shite, I'm sure it is!" Yvonne chuckled good-naturedly.

"C'mon guys, Rose is happy for me, right?" Marcie said loudly, her inhibitions dramatically lowered as she smiled over at her friend. Rose felt her stomach drop a bit, twisting into something strange. The redhead stood up from her chair suddenly, knocking back the table a few inches accidentally.

"Sorry guys," she muttered, pushing the chair back into the table roughly, "I gotta go . . . I-I forgot an essay I have to write."

"You sure?" Derek asked loudly, his brow creasing a bit, "Ya got all weekend to do that shit!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. And keep your voices down, you drunk bastards." Rose confirmed irritably, stuffing all her loose papers into her messenger bag as she chastised her friends, "I gotta go." As she was leaving, Marcie met her further away from the group, catching her friend's arm.

"Are y'sure you're okay, Rose?" She asked, her eyes concerned and a little hazy from drinking. _Some award winner she looks like right now,_ that cruel part of Rose's brain whispered to her, _Can't even hold some low quality liquor._ Rose stuffed her thoughts aside and tried to shake Marcie off her arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rose said with a false cheeriness, "Just feeling a little under the weather that's all." Marcie's eyes narrowed, her grip not leaving her friend's arm.

"Are you _SURE_?" She asked, "I can tell something's bothering you, Rosie, we've been friends for seven years -"

"I'm _fine_ , Marcie. Now will you let go of my fucking arm already?" Rose snapped. Marcie, surprised at the shorter girl's outburst, released her friend's arm.

"Thanks. Congrats on your medal." Rose stormed past her friend, towards the painting of Sir Cadogan that held the entrance to her separate dorms. She passed the house pervert, Mason Tremlett, flipping him off as he wolf whistled at her.

" _Abscido_!" She practically yelled at Cadogan, who was so frightened by her, he didn't even try to flirt before he opened the passageway. Rose stormed through, slamming the painting shut behind her.

She made her way through they library, not bothering to stop and chat with Sophocles, and ran up to her bedroom. She flopped down on her bed, thoughts racing.

"What is _wrong_ with me?" She moaned out loud to no one in particular. But her spiteful thoughts continued.

 _She doesn't deserve that award._

 _She KNEW I wanted it, but she's such an awful friend she accepted it anyways._

 _She doesn't care that I needed this for my job application._

 _I. Hate. Marcie._

"I need a drink." She groaned. She pushed herself off her bed, and pulled out the bottle of 1973 Gordon's Firewhiskey that she bought as a Christmas present for her father - she technically wasn't of age, but the rules were much more lenient in the wizarding world. Rose pulled the cork off the bottle and took a long sip, enjoying the burning feeling down her throat. She took another gulp. And another. And another. The world spun around her before she fell over, hitting her head on a chair on the way down. Rose grimanced, and felt the back of her head. Her small hand away with a little bit of blood on it

 _This is all Marcie's fault._ Rose swigged another drink from the bottle a took out a piece of parchment paper. And that was the last thing Rose remembered thinking or doing the next morning.

* * *

"Hangovers are a bitch." Yvonne sighed as she plopped down at the Ravenclaw table next to Linda, Derek, and Amoury and Rose - Marcie had yet to show. Like the common rooms, the Great Hall House tables also had mingling Houses sitting at each.

"I know right? I'm sure there's some bloody spell to relieve hangovers somewhere. I _must_ check the restricted section . . ." Linda moaned.

"It's called Advil," Derek groaned, far too cranky for someone who bragged about being able to chug firewhiskey the night before. And then did so. Rose cracked open an eye, the morning light coming in from the east windows being too much for her delicate state of mind.

"Speaking of which, do you have any I could . . . y'know, have?" Rose asked. The four stared at Rose. Rose Weasley _never_ got hungover. Hell had just frozen over. Derek was the first one to break the silence.

"Here, take four," he said, "If _you_ of all people are hungover, you're gonna need that many." Rose, eyes still closed, grabbed the pills and swallowed them dry quickly, banging her head on the table in frustration.

"This fucking sucks." She lamented.

"Look on the bright side, guys!" Amoury grinned, his demeanor far too chipper - and not to mention loud - for his four best mates.

"For the love of all things I hold dear in this fucked up world, what could possibly be on the bright side of having a monster of a hangover?" Linda peeped one eye through her hands that were covering her face.

"I can't handle anything bright anyways." Rose moaned, her statement met with a chorus of sympathetic groans. All of a sudden, the Weasley felt something plop on to the back of her head. Confused, she grabbed at what seemed to be a letter. Inspecting it, she saw it had a Hogwarts Seal, special to McGonagall.

"Ohhhh, Rose is in for it!" Linda teased, poking Rose in the ribs.

"Oh, bugger off!" Rose laughed, pushing her friend away. Inside, however, Rose was incredibly nervous. Curiously, she broke the seal, the see the beautiful, looping script of Headmaster McGonagall. It read:

 _Dear Ms. Rose Weasley,_

 _I appreciate your expressing concern over the matter of the Special Service Award and its recipient in_ _your letter than you sent me at eleven yesterday evening. A rather late hour for me, my apologies_ _for just getting back to you on this matter this morning._ _I should like to inform you that the decision we made was with entire clearness of mind and_ _heart. The faculty and I are certain that we have chosen the right individual for the award. I am sure_ _you agree that Marcie is certainly qualified, and I do hope you realize you were a final contestant in_ _the decision process, but the faculty has come to a sound decision we all agree with and will stand by._

 _Best, Minerva McGonagall_

 _Headmistress of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

 _Post Script: Yes, Professor Trelawney did get a vote in the decision process - and yes, her mental s_ _tate is completely sound, thank you for your concern._

 _Personal Post Script: And, Rose, please refrain from using such language in the future. It is unbecoming_ _a person to use such language, about a friend no less._

Rose stared at the letter, not quite understanding what it was about. Then all of a sudden it hit her. Last night. Her bitterness. That firewhiskey. The letter she had sent to McGonagall saying that Marcie wasn't qualified and that the award should instead be given to her, Rose Weasley. Rose quickly hide the letter in the folds of her robes, hoping nobody noticed it. However, as she turned around, she saw Marcie looking at her, her face written with disgust and disbelief.

"Marcie-" Rose began, but Marcie stormed off out of the Great Hall.

"Marcie!" Rose called after her friend, chasing her out of the Great Hall. "Marcie!" She shouted, pulling on her friend's arm and stopping her in front of the hourglasses, gems tinkling around inside with a joyful sound that contrasted deeply Marcie and Rose. The tension in the air crackled between them.

"Look Marcie, I can explain, I was drunk last night, that letter I sent was noth-" Rose began to plead.

"Oh shut up, you cow!" Marcie said, deathly calm, "How could you do this to me? Friends don't do that to friends. Even when they're drunk. You have been so _fucking_ passive aggressive ever since you heard I got the award! Do you understand how much this fucking meant to me?"

"Wait a second!" Rose bristled, "How much this award meant _you?_ You heard me all those times I told you I wanted this award. How badly I wanted it!"

"Oh," Marcie scoffed, eyes blazing and her hair flying behind her, "The two times you mentioned it to me? I'm sorry I didn't think you would care so much. I told you seven damn times this month! _You_ knew how much I wanted this! You knew how much it meant to me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rose snapped. Realization dawned on Marcie's face.

"Oh. _Oh._ " Marcie finally let her calm voice go. Marcie's face had an ashen hue and her short hair stuck up from running her hands through it. Oh OF COURSE, you bloody arse." Marcie's rising voice shook.

"Only you, Rose, couldn't even remember, through the absolute _blinding_ want you had for this award you mentioned to me TWICE, mind you," Marcie's voice was dangerously low, dripping with sarcasm, "That this was the award created by my fucking dead _mother_? Of course Weasley, only you would be so smart but so fucking blind to others." A bunch of third year boys were crowding around them started chanting

"Fight, fight, fight, fight!" Marcie and Rose turned around at the same time.

"FUCK OFF!" They yelled in sync. The boys scattered, frightened. The two girls turned back to each other, resuming their argument.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rose shouted exasperatedly back at her friend.

"It means you have been a shitty friend from day one. You can only think about your own god damn self. And your own god damn ambitions. Not once - not fucking once - did you ask me about what I wanted to do with my future, or really what I wanted. This whole friendship is about you. I put up for it for the past seven years because the poor naïve me thought you might actually care about me. Ha. You fucking _bitch_." Marcie spat out that last word.

"Give me an example then of when else but now I've been such a shitty, shitty friend!" Rose yelled, her face turning red and her knuckles white from gripping her book bag.

"Second Year. Carriage seats. I wanted to sit with our friends, but you made me sit with your family, where you sat and talked with Al the entire ride while James spent the entire time making me uncomfortable as possible. Fifth Year, . . ." Marcie began to list occasion after occasion on her fingers.

" . . . and finally today Rose. Today-" Marcie's voice broke and her eyes hardened, "Today is the day I will finally be free of your 'friendship'. I'm done." Rose realized Marcie was reaching for her wand. Rose was about to do the same when her brother appeared out of nowhere and wrestled it out of her hand, holding it up way above her head.

"Give it back to me, you bloody idiot!" She screamed at him, before whirling around to face Marcie.

"You're lucky I left my wand in the Great Hall." Marcie threatened with almost a light tone, and with that, the Hufflepuff stormed past the Weasley siblings and into the mazes of hallways. Rose turned back on her brother.

"Give me my wand." She said, her voice deadly calm.

"No." Hugo simply said, completely unafraid of his sister's tantrum-like state.

"Give me _my fucking wand, little brother_." Rose's voice rose.

"No, Rosie. You'll make an even bigger scene than the one you are in right now, and you are going to do something you'll regret later. I will not give you back your wand." Hugo said, maintaining his grip on his sister's wand as she jumped to try to reach it. She kept jumping and trying to claw the wand out of her brother's hand, and then something just . . . broke inside her. Rose sank to the stone floor, wrapping her arms around herself and hyperventilating with tears running down her face. Hugo stuffed the stolen wand in his back pocket and hoisted his sister up, keeping his arms around her as she buried her face into his slightly too small sweater. Hugo half walked, half carried his older sister slowly past the Great Hall and the crowd of people who had gathered to witness the fight. They walked past Yvonne, Derek, Amoury, and Linda. They walked past several faculty members. They walked past Scorpius Malfoy, who, oddly enough to Hugo, seemed to want to say something, before he shook his head and sauntered into the Great Hall. Hugo walked his sister back to her Head Girl Quarters. He was the only person she trusted with her password. Hugo led his sister past the Great Room, past the kitchen (but not before he ordered Rose's favorite dessert, warm triple chocolate chunk cookies and milk to be sent up to the bedroom), past the library, up the stairs, and into her bed. He laid down with her, murmuring comforting things into Rose's ear and stroking her hair as she cried and cried. The curtains were still drawn from her morning's hangover, and the little light coming from the candelabra on the night stand sent the shadows of the two siblings' shadows dancing across the floor. Eventually, Rose's sobs quieted to silent tears and occasional hiccups. Hugo passed his sister the plate of warm cookies. The small redhead took the plate gratefully, and shoved two of the massive cookies in her mouth at once.

"Why?" She croaked, "Why does she think I am so selfish?" Hugo sighed at sat up on the bed cross legged. Rose followed suit, not bothering to care about wiping her smudged makeup off in the presence of her brother.

"Rose, you are ambitious. And sometimes, that makes you have a one track mind." He began.

"No I don't! I never let my ambitions get in the way of my relationships!" Rose protested, drawing the blankets she had around her shoulders closer to her chest.

"Rose." Hugo raised his eyebrows.

"No, I seriously don't do that! Name one time I did something like that - besides the supposed things I did to Marcie." She countered.

"A few days before Christmas, nine years ago?" Hugo said back.

 _Nine years ago, when the Weasley-Potter Family was gathering around the Burrow's Christmas tree two nights before Christmas, there was a small fight that was largely forgotten by all but apparently Hugo and just recently Rose. Eight year old Rose had just about had it with her cousins. Fred, James, and Dominique had been pestering her all night, and she was about to lose it. Rose had just gotten second place for "Best Behaved" in her muggle third grade awards ceremony ("_ Honestly, why the hell do our kids' schools have these things? And why am I required to come to them?", _Ronald Weasley whispered to his wife during the "ceremony", earning a slap)_ _and subsequently had gone home and cried. Word had gotten around the family, and her cousins had just such a great time poking fun at her about that._

 _"Oh Rosie, would you be a dear and get me that ornament in that box?" James said, pointing a box in the corner before placing a hand on his cheek with mock disappointment, "Oh well never mind that, you would probably break it since you are not well behaved." Dominique an Fred laughed with James, and Rose sat in the corner stewing._

 _"Rosie!" Dominique called in a sing song voice, the other two of the pranksters sniggering right behind her, "Why are you only second best? Why, you are quite the LOSER, aren't you?"_

 _"Oh stop teasing the poor girl," Teddy Lupin called across the room. Rose smiled gratefully at the boy who was family by now, just before Teddy continued, "It's not her fault she is sub-par." Rose's smile turned into a snarl, but her cousins just laughed at her and turned away. Little six year old Hugo tugged on her sleeve, cowering before the glare his sister shot at him.  
_

 _"What is it Hugo?" She snapped, "I'm not exactly in the mood to play Ring-Around-The-Goblin." Hugo shook slightly but stood his ground, his kind, all-loving habits already developing.  
_

 _"I-I just wanted to say that I'm sure you're a good girl. You're always a good girl, Rosie," Hugo said with a shy smile that usually would make Rose give one of her few unguarded smiles back. Unfortunately, Rose was already furious, and there was no stopping her now._

 _"Oh,_ really _, Hugo?" She said with a mocking voice, "Are you_ sureeee _? Are you_ SURE _you aren't just waiting to make fun of me behind my back for my silver medal?" She spit out the word "silver" with disgust._

 _"If I can't be the best, then I don't want a medal at all. It just makes me look stupid" She scoffed._

 _"Well you're my best sister. I don't have a golden medal for best b-behav-behayur-" Hugo stumbled over the word, "Well you're my best sister." Hugo repeated, trying to appeal to his sister. He gave her a big grin, his mouth smeared with remnants of Grammy Molly's chocolate brownies. Usually, that look would make Rose melt, but, like before, she was having none of it._

 _"Shut up, dummy, I'm your ONLY sister," she frowned down at her little brother, "And wipe your mouth, you look like an idiot." Only when Hugo's bottom lip began to wobble did she start to question her words._

 _"Look, whatever, Hugie, I'm sorry." She huffed, jostling his shoulder with her hand, making him fall._

 _Hugo burst out with an earsplitting scream, shocking the rest of the room full of little kids into silence. Harry and Hermione burst into the room, wands drawn._

 _"What? What is it? Who's hurt?" Hermione said frantically, before spotting her child on the ground crying and scooping him up._

 _"Hugo, Hugie-Bear, tell Mummy what's wrong." She asked him soothingly, jostling him up and down on her hip, but the boy was still crying furiously. Harry surveyed the room, and once he was reassured that the room was clear of any dark wizards and that the faint throbbing in his head had been present ever since he downed that last shot of firewhiskey, he tucked his wand into his belt loop and looked at the group of kids before him._

 _"What," his voice was low, "Did you do?" All the kids, ranging from ages six to sixteen looked down at their feet nervously, not wanting to call Rose out and face her wrath. Harry walked slowly among the group of cousins, looking each of them in the face to make them as uncomfortable as possible. These kids could cover for each other pretty well, but Harry had begun to be able to weed out the guilty from the innocent. He walked past Rose, and seeing her suspiciously unashames face, paused._

 _"Rose," Harry began, "Do you know what happened to Hugo?" Rose gulped.  
_

 _"No, Uncle Harry," Rose said in a clear voice, "I just looked over when I heard Hugo scream-" Hugo, who had since regained his senses and had quieted his sobs to sniffles, burst out,_

 _"No you didn't!" He cried, "You pushed me over and called me names!" Rose's face turned a deep scarlet red, clashing spectacularly with her hair._

 _"Shut up you butthead!" She shout-whispered to her brother._

 _"Rosemary Muriel-Jean Weasley!" Hermione said sharply, still bouncing her younger child on her hip, "Go to your room right now. No Gramma Molly's treacle tart for you."_

 _"But Mummy -" Rose began to argue._

 _"Upstairs. NOW." Hermione all but thundered, her face stone set. Rose screeched, turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, up, up, up the several flights of stairs, slammed her door shut, opened it, and slammed it shut again a few times for good measure, and threw herself onto her bed sobbing._

 _Rose must have fallen asleep, because the next thing her senses detected was the foot of her bed being compressed underneath another person._

 _"Go away!" She moaned, not bothering to see who the person was, "I don't wanna talk to you."_

 _"Ye won't even talk to me?" Her uncle Charlie asked, a hint of laughter in his voice._

 _"Even you Uncle Char." Rose groused back, but still turn on her back to face her uncle. Rose didn't pick favorites in her family, but if she had to choose a favorite uncle, it would be Charlie. The two had a special bond, perhaps the closeness founded on that her birth was the only one Charlie attended of his nieces and nephews - that hadn't been purposeful, but she just so happened to be born three weeks early, during Ron and Hermione's trip to visit Charlie in Egypt. Wherever Charlie walked, it was like a new ray of sunshine burst into the room. His accent was a strange combination of English, Romanian, and Egyptian, and it came out to be sounding almost Irish. He was tall and broad from his years in working with dragons, and it was a favorite past time of the little Weasleys to climb all over him like monkeys. Always good natured, he, for some reason, never married nor had any children. He was always laughing, his head thrown back and his smiles almost breaking his face for how big they were. Perhaps it was the utter contrast between serious Rose and laughing Charlie that brought them so close._

 _"There's my pretty girl." He smiled, swiping his thumb underneath Rose's eyes, clearing them of tears, "Yer Dad wanted to come up, but he decided to let me come and talk some sense into the curly head of yers." Rose smiled slightly, knowing her dad was probably waiting outside the door, ready to sweep in at any moment if he didn't agree with what Uncle Charlie said._

 _"Look Rose-blossom, I'm gonna get straight to the point. Yer accomplished, and ye know that. And that's okay. But ye can't let that get to yer head. That's where things start goin' wrong, like hittin' yer brother." Rose set her bottom lip out stubbornly. Charlie sighed._

 _"Hold yer brother close. I got five of 'em, and I guarantee ye, ye wanna have a close bond with them. I love each and every one of my brothers, even that prat of a guy, yer Dad is." There was an indignant snort outside the door, but the door remained closed. Charlie continued._

 _"Ye can't let yer accomplishments go to yer head, because it will hurt yer relatinships. Not just with yer brother and family, but yer friends too. Take Uncle Perce, for example." Charlie put his hand beneath Rose's chin and gently pushed it up so she would look in his eyes._

 _"He wanted to work in the Minstry so badly, he was willing te give up his relationship with Grampa Artie te have that job. It was only when he realized that the Ministry had turned bad before the Battle of Hogwarts-" Charlie's voice broke a bit, "- did he really come back and see what was more important. An' Fred, well luckily he had been there when Percy came back because he . . . he-" Rose placed a small hand over her uncle's mouth, knowing he would have a hard time saying what was next, and also not really wanting to hear the grief in his voice herself. Rose knew that losing the uncle she never met was very hard on her family. Charlie looked up at Rose again, this time his eyes and voice clear_

 _"Rose-blossom, do ye understand me?" He searched his niece's face, apparently satisfied with the nod she gave, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and stood up._

 _"G'night Uncle Charlie! Love you!" Rose called out to her uncle as he neared the door._

 _"I love ye too, Rose-blossom. Merry Christmas." He smiled before closing the door behind him. Rose heard muffled voices, including the voice of Ron saying something like "prat", "not letting me up", and " bad brother", and Charlie simply laughing and clomping down the stairs with his heavy gait, followed by the sounds of her father's footsteps also starting the long journey down the Burrow's stairs. Rose turned slowly towards her brother's bed, and saw two big hazel eyes looking over the covers staring back at her. Quickly and quietly, Rose threw off the sheets and padded over to her brother's bed, giving him a big hug._

 _"Merry Christmas Hugo."_

 _"Merry Christmas, Rosie."_

"Oh my god," Rose trembled, "I really am awful." Her tears starting coming again and fast.

"No, no, no, Rosie!" Hugo cried, "I just got you to stop crying!" He hugged his sister again.

"What will I do? Marcie was - _is_ \- my best friend," Rose whispered into her brother's chest.

"Well, I suppose apologize. I dunno, maybe get her flowers?" Hugo proposed, wiping under her eyes, desperately trying to get her to stop crying. Rose laughed through her tears at her brother's idea.

"She's not my girlfriend, Hugo! But I will apologize - I'll see what I can do about the flowers too." Rose smirked. Hugo threw his hands up in the air.

"Dudes don't do that kind of make up shit!" He said defensively.

"Language!" Rose admonished her little brother.

"But your language down their was way worse -"

"We aren't discussing that Hugo. We are discussing your inability to make up with someone after a fight. I'm older" Rose countered.

"I'm taller. And like I said, guys don't really do that kind of . . . stuff." Hugo finished. Rose laughed and snuggled up to her brother. There was a brief moment of silence before Hugo spoke again.

"So what are you gonna give me to stay quiet to Mum and Dad about the whole drinking thing." He joked.

"I will not give you a black eye." Rose said, her voice hard as rock.

"Only joking, Rosie, only joking!" Hugo pretended to be afraid, hugging his sister closer. The two laughed.

"Y'know, I still think you're that six year old softie form that Christmas." Rose yawned.

"Oh shut up little sister."

"Love you too, butthead. Y'know being sensitive is a turn on for girls."

"Blerghergh yuck Rosie. I _don't_ want to know what turns you on." He flicked her nose lightly.

"One day, little brother, one day you will thank me." And with that, Rose fell asleep, not crying and ridiculously happy in having the last word in their argument, on her very uncomfortable brother. The balance with the Weasley siblings righted itself once more.

 **A/N: So whaddya think? I tried to give Rose a bit more of a personality in this chapter. I hope you liked the Weasley siblings moment, I had a lot of fun writing it. Also, did you notice that I didn't swear like at all in the flashback? I'm really too proud about that. Also, longest chapter so far!**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading, following/favoriting, and reviewing! Please please please give me more feedback!**

 **Love y'all!**

 **~RestisRustandStardust**

 **Posted: Uhhhh I think 11/28/15**

 **Updated: 4/10/16**


	5. In Which Malfoy Gets Laid

**A/N: Hello my fine friends of fan fiction. So, update on life: I have finished swim season, so the intervals between updates may be a bit shorter than it has been! So this chapter is gonna be a bit suggestive, if you catch my drift, so just a warning! This is shorter than my average chapter, but read the author's note at the end! Anyways, without further ado, Chapter Five.**

Scorpius hated Professor Babbit.

He hated Potions class.

He hated their fight.

He hated the fact that he cared.

It had been two weeks since the run-in between Marcie and Rose, and they had not made up. Rose Weasley had been rumored to have tried to make up with Marcie the day after their fall out, but even if she did, nothing became of it. The two once inseparable friends avoided each other like the plague. They sat at tables on opposite sides of the Great Hall. If one was walking down a hallway, the other would purposefully take another route to their classroom. In short, the two girls showed no sign of any reconciliation.

Marcie was constantly on edge. She snapped at anyone who came near her, an angry, defiant air surrounding her. Her nose was constantly upturned, ready to yell at any underclassman who got in her way. Her manner was brash and loud, and whenever there was said to be a party, she would show up just to get mindlessly drunk. She angrily stormed about to all of her classes, at her meals in a quick fashion, then would disappear for hours on end to the Quidditch practice field.

Rose, on the other hand, seemed simply . . . beaten. She moved around slowly, letting her hair go untamed and unruly as it curtained her face to hide all emotions. She rarely showed up to meals. She never talked to friends, and she would disappear to her dorms as soon as the last class ended. She would shuffle from class to class, her usual vibrant spark for life seemingly dulled. She didn't have any fight left in her. And this, you see, was a problem for Scorpius Malfoy.

The two had unplanned duels that happened at least once a week that had been known to destroy paintings, statues, and windows that were within the fifty foot vicinity of the encounter. And though the two ended up in the hospital wing because of each other almost every match, the object of their fights wasn't to actually hurt each other. As the two were the smartest in the school (with the exception of Lucy Weasley, who was a bloody genius and aced her NEWTS at the tender age of nine, she sure as hell doesn't count), this was a battle of _pride_. Highly complicated spells to master flew whenever the two dueled, and students always flocked to the match's location as soon as they heard their entertainment of the night had begun. And, _of course_ , the staff would never condone such behavior, and, _of course_ , Professor McGonagall would _never_ be the head of a staff gambling pool over who would win the matches. Of course not. But in any case, McGonagall being the head of a betting ring or not, Rose seemed to simply be unable to work up the energy that it took for her to fight her rival. Malfoy slowly felt his skills rusting, and that was simply intolerable.

And of course, aside from their duels, Hogwarts was missing their legendary arguments that would spring up everywhere. And, for the first time in seven years, Scorpius Malfoy was _bored_. He was constantly restless, his wand always tapping somewhere. He couldn't stop thinking about Rose. In a loathing way, of course. He was a Malfoy wasn't he? He didn't care from that Weasley's feelings. Not at all.

So keep that in mind when Scorpius Malfoy walked into Professor Babbit's 8AM all-house NEWTs level Monday Morning Potions Class. He was fucking pissed off.

Let us rewind to just get a sense of how else Scorpius was pissed off that day. His morning started off badly. He had to sneak out of Melora Goldstein's warm bed and out of the Ravenclaw Tower at the early hour of five. He almost got caught sneaking back to the Slytherin Dungeons in only his cloak and his underwear by Filch ( _Why can't that man just conk off already? He's like a hundred years old already,_ Scorpius was thinking while he was hiding in probably the smallest broom closet he had ever encountered). He finally made it back to the Slytherin Dormitories after an hour spent trying to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris. He couldn't get back into his Dorms, because the giggling kiwi tended to make quite a ruckus whenever he opened the door. He managed to get a total of two hours of sleep before Rocco tasered him, a ridiculous Muggle invention that really had no purpose but to harm innocent, sleeping souls in Malfoy's opinion.

"Mate, get UP. Merlin's beard you can sleep through _anything._ " Rocco groaned after hitting his friend with a pillow to get him up. Scorpius just groaned and turned over on his side, and continued to snore lightly.

"I'm sorry Malfoy, but you leave me no choice." Rocco declared with resignation in his voice. He pulled out his Muggle taser that he stashed in his bureau and zapped his friend on the stomach. Scorpius leapt out of bed, feet caught in the sheets, and faceplanted right on the floor.

"Its seven thirty five. We have Potions, and you know how Babbit loves tardiness." Rocco declared, sniffing slightly at the undignified sight of his friend curled up on the ground.

"Oh my face, my beautiful, beautiful face . . ." was all Scorpius seemed to be able to groan back. Rocco sighed and stepped over his friend and through the doorway.

"I tried. But don't expect my to save your ass when Babbit makes you be his tester for first-years Potions as punishment." He said with a grin, sidestepping to pillow Scorpius threw at him before turning on his heel and striding out the door. Malfoy groaned and heaved himself up from the floor. He tossed on the uniform, not bothering to tie his tie, found his wand thrown in some dark corner of the room, and poured himself a cup from the coffee maker. Scorpius inhaled the steam, savoring the smell and how it eased the pounding headache he had brought upon himself after a night of drinking bottle after bottle of firewhiskey with Melora Goldstein last night, followed by a snog session, which led to . . . well, you get the picture. In any case, Malfoy seldom appreciated Muggle inventions (his ingrained dislike probably stemmed from the aforementioned taser that he had been shocked with too many times over the years), but he had to hand it to the Muggles, the coffee maker Ian Cartwright brought was the best thing that had happened to Scorpius Malfoy. He took a deep gulp and checked his watch.

"Fucking hell!" Scorpius exclaimed, slamming his cup of coffee down on the table. Tugging on his shoes, he ran out of the Slytherin dormitories and Common Room and through the maze called the Dungeons in the five minutes he had left to get to class.

* * *

At promptly 8:01, Scorpius skidded into class, just as Professor Babbit was closing the door. By this point, not only was he bored and fidgety, as he had been since Rose clocked out, he was also tired, hungry, dishelved, and had a spectacular migraine.

"Sorry, Professor," He mumbled, catching himself before he tripped on a broken quill on the ground.

"Let's not make a habit of it, Mr. Malfoy. My, my, you seem to be a bit off balance!" The short, portly professor chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I had a . . . _late_ night," Scorpius said, finding Melora's eyes and winking, sending her and her friends into a fit of giggles. Babbit, of course oblivious to the innuendo behind Scorpius' words, chuckled again.

"Studying, I hope!"

"Er, yeah. I was studying really hard last night. It was very . . . satisfying." Scorpius smirked over to the Ravenclaw girls again while sliding into a seat, sending them into another fit of giggles. In reality, the sex was okay for Scorpius - nothing special. Then again, nothing had ever really felt special. Rose scoffed, barely audible from the back of the room.

"Is something wrong, Miss Weasley?" Professor Babbit inquired, genuinely confused.

"Oh yes, yes, fine. My apologies, Professor," She muttered, waving her hand.

"Well, I think we should let the professor get back to his lesson without anymore interruption. Don't you think, _Weasley_?" Marcie spat from her corner, seated as far away from Rose as possible. Rose didn't even counter the glare, or react at all. She just stared ahead with red rimmed eyes.

"Er-okay. So anyways to the agenda . . ." Professor Babbit interrupted to awkward tension in the air. Scorpius just rolled his eyes at Marcie's immaturity. It was really too early for her shit.

"All right, so first, I wanted to say that I am going to be giving out seating assignments!" Babbit exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Immediately, a chorus of protests filled the air.

"What? No, professor, please-"

"Only underclassmen get assigned seats-"

"That's unfair, we haven't done anything wrong-"

The objections were cut off sharply by a wave of Babbit's hand and a glare from over his spectacles.

"This is to promote inter-house unity, and to break down social barriers," He started, "Besides, you get to pick your partners!" The students immediately began making eye contact with their friends, silently making arrangements. Melora even began to eye Scorpius, while he pointedly looked away. There was no way in hell he would work with her - she was _way_ too handsy. And especially at this level of Potions, one could not be jumping around. However, the students were disappointed again when they saw Babbit bring out a cauldron with tiny slips of paper in it.

"You get to pick out of here!" He exclaimed, smiling at his students as if he expected them to grin back. If he truly was, then Babbit would have been disappointed by the groans that echoed throughout the drafty classroom. Decidely ignoring the moans, if he even noticed, the professor merrily instructed his students to split up to the corners by house.

"So, I have placed the names of every Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in this class into the cauldron in front of me. Slytherins and Ravenclaws will choose their partners." One by one, every Ravenclaw and Slytherin put their hand in the cauldron and pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Babbit.

"Ah! So Slytherin Ashley Carver and Hufflepuff Lorcan Scamander!"

"Slytherin Garrett and Gryffindor Chittenden!"

"Ravenclaw Haverford and Gryffindor Perkins!"

The corner groups were slowly thinning and the tables filling up when Melora Goldstein sidled up to Scorpius.

"You know, it's a shame we probably won't work together," She whispered in his ear, dragging her nails lightly up his back, "We make such great _study_ partners." Scorpius practically ran up to Babbit to escape whatever unpleasant conversation was sure to follow with Melora.

"Ho, Malfoy, a little eager aren't we?" The professor chortled. Malfoy simply nodded and grabbed a slip of paper out of the bowl. Unfurling the piece of paper, his heart dropped at the sight of the name that was inked there in a flowing script.

 _Oh, why does the world hate me?_

 **A/N All right, so sort of filler, but I realized the length of this chapter and I realized that I barely had begun my ideas for it, and that if I finished what I planned in one chapter, it would be wayyyy too long. So I am writing the continuation of this chapter and will post it soon after I posted this one!**

 **Posted: Smeh, 3/4/16? I promise I'll keep track from now on.**

 **Updated: 4/18/16**


	6. In Which Malfoy is Confused

**A/N: Hey guys! So here's part two from last chapter! I'll put any announcements I have at the end of the chapter. As always, please please please favorite, follow, and REVIEW!**

* * *

What Happened in the Last Chapter:

 _"'Ho, Malfoy, a little eager aren't we?' The professor chortled. Malfoy simply nodded and grabbed a slip of paper out of the bowl. Unfurling the piece of paper, his heart dropped at the sight of the name that was inked there in a flowing script._

Oh, why does the world hate me?"

 _Marcie Scamander_.

 **Scorpius POV**

Malfoy near shuddered externally at that name - he certainly did so internally.

Two weeks ago, he hadn't minded Marcie. She was sarcastic, was almost as smart as Rose, and had one helluva ass, as Rocco often liked to, rather undelicately, comment. Scorpius always pretended not to acknowledge her existence, and she would do the same for him, but they both _knew_ each other. But their relationship was certainly strange The two always had some sort of . . . well friendship was too strong of a word. Perhaps alliance, or at least a truce, in which Marcie realized that Scorpius wasn't an asshole and would try to protect him from Rose when possible while Scorpius would always polish her broom whenever he was polishing his own. It was a well known fact that Scorpius had the best broom cleaning kit in Hogwarts, and he certainly knew how to use it. Scorpius had converted a small room (a closet really) that he had found behind a tapestry in the dungeons into a place where he would store his broom and clean it in his second year. Marcie just so happened to stumble upon it one day when she was late for Potions. Their silent agreement had been in place ever since their third year, and the two had a comfortable truce in which Marcie did not despise Malfoy and would not tell Rose of the friendship between Scorpius and Fred, and of which Rose Weasley had no knowledge of whatsoever.

But in any case, he didn't dislike her. That is, until the Marcie/Rose screaming match two weeks prior to thet potions class. Ever since, Marcie had been, for lack of better words, fucking unbearable. She knew that every moment she spent with Malfoy would rub salt into the wound with Rose. So, Marcie had developed a rather annoying habit of seeking out Malfoy every chance she got just to spite her ex-best friend. Literally _any_ time she was free, Marcie was bound to either be with or searching for Scorpius.

Scorpius knew the passageways in the school better than anyone - it is said he knew the layout of the castle even better than Dumbledore did. But even when forced to employ his knowledge of the halls, Malfoy still found it difficult to avoid Marcie. And now, he was involuntarily required to spend the entire duration of Potions with her for who knew how long!

Scorpius sighed and readjusted his bag on his shoulder. He uncomfortably avoided Melora's hungry gaze and trudged to the closest empty table, the Hufflepuff girl walking quickly behind him.

"Oh Scorpius, I am _so_ glad that we are partners!" Marcie exclaimed in probably the fakest tone known to man, casting a smirk over her shoulder at Rose in the corner. The poor redhead was unfortunate in that she got partnered with Melora Goldstein.

"Sure, Marcie." Scorpius muttered, but Marcie wasn't listening.

"I mean, you are _such_ a great friend! I don't think I've _ever_ had such a good friend as you!" Scorpius only grunted in return as he got out his textbook. He was surprised that he even remembered to bring it in his rush this morning. The only indication that what Marcie was saying bothered Rose was the slight whitening of her knuckles around her wand.

"No really Scorpius, you really are!" Marcie continued, fakely enthusiastic.

"That's enough, Marcie." Scorpius said quietly.

" _So_ much better than some other friends I have had!" Marcie continued, pointedly ignoring Malfoy.

"Marcie, I said, that's enough!" Scorpius raised his voice. It was too early for him to deal with this shit, really. The Hufflepuff was only briefly taken aback before she plunged headfirst into meaningless chatter about something in the Daily Prophet the day before that neither she nor Malfoy really gave any fucks about. Malfoy sighed and decided to pick his battles to fight, and that this certain battle wasn't one of them.

"Alright, NEWT students, today we are making a highly complex potion." All the students rolled their eyes. Not only were they the smart ones of their class, and nothing _really_ challenged them before, Babbit notoriously thought the students were much less capable than they actually were. However, the bumbling professor surprised them all that day. With a flourish of his wand, glowing silver letters appeared on the board.

"Veritaserum." Professor Babbit squeaked, nervously adjusting his spectacles. Though her sparkle was dulled, Rose Weasley never - _never_ \- hesitated to call out someone on breaking the rules. Babbit hardly seemed surprised when he saw her hand shooting up in the air.

"But Professor, isn't Veritaserum not on the NEWT curriculum? And isn't Veritaserum strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic?" The redhead inquired with a small voice, unlike her usual commanding, almost bossy, tone.

"Why yes, Miss Weasley, but I decided that the NEWT curriculum was not challenging enough for you, and, after some deliberation, Minister Shacklebolt has decided to let us make the Veritaserum. However, we will only administer an eighth of the dosage that would normally given, so it will . . . anyone? Anyone?" Surprise, surprise, Rose Weasley's hand shot up again, much to the annoyance of Melora Goldstein. Melora was adequately intelligent herself, how else would she be in a NEWT level class, but she paled pitifully in comparison to her new partner. Melora's hand didn't even have time to twitch with the answer before Rose spoke.

"The drinker would be more resistant than a full dosage." She said clearly. Malfoy straightened slightly and decided to try and annoy Weasley into a fight.

"They will still tell the truth eventually, but they don't have to answer directly, and would not have to answer right away - for example, they could run away before they spilled their darkest secrets, or tell a half truth," Scorpius added, looking sideways at Rose - he would never raise his hand first, but would always add on little tidbits. He realized this trick early on - people thought you were smarter if you knew more than the person who originally shared in class. And if there was one thing that Rose Weasley hated, was being not as good.

"Very good, Miss Malfoy! Oh, and you too Miss Weasley," Babbit clapped his hands together like a child, a strangely amusing sight with his balding, mousy brown hair and too-tight belt. _This is it,_ Scorpius thought, _Rose can't handle being second even in a sentence_. But Malfoy was severely disappointed when Rose only shot a half-hearted glare, obviously still not vexed enough to push Malfoy out with his boredom.

"Continuing on, you will be brewing it with the partners you currently are sitting with, and, at the end, will test it on each other! As you are not trained in resisting such potions, you still will tell the truth! " Babbit clapped again. _Bloody hell, this man is too goddamn chipper for 8 bloody AM. I mean,_ come on _, does he really have to clap? Some of us might be a little hung over._ Scorpius thought, groaning into the palm of his hand and wishing that he had bought one of those Muggle mugs that you could carry drinks in - namely, coffee - when he visited Muggle London with Ian. What he would have given for a hot, steaming cup of black coffee to nurse right then.

Babbit passed out pieces of parchment with the potion recipe on it. Marcie tied her short, blond hair back with a rubber band and starting reading down the recipe.

"Here, you get the first half of the ingredients, and I'll get the second. We'll meet back here when we get everything. Also, do you have a brass cauldron? I have a silver pewter mix, and that won't work well for this potion." Despite the fact that Marcie was annoying as hell, Scorpius couldn't help but be impressed. Marcie was incredibly put together - he could see how Rose and Marcie were such good friends.

"Yeah, I do. If you get back before me, start measuring out the scarab beetles and cutting them into Krumplesnork size." Scorpius said before heading off to the huge NEWT Ingredients Closet with Marcie. There, among the other students milling about the large closet, he saw the rather short Rose Weasley desperately trying to grab one of the jars of lionfish spines on the top shelf. Her hair had been pulled up into high bun. She was standing on her tiptoes on a stool, but even then, she couldn't reach the glass case. In her tight button down shirt, her rather short skirt, stockings, and a loose tie, she looked rather . . . _Nope. Nope. Nope to the fucking nope. She's Rose fucking Weasley, Malfoy. Snap out of it._ Scorpius straightened and lightly slapped himself imperceptibly. Malfoy reached over her head and grabbed two of the small vials, handing one off to the redhead. Rose muttered a quiet thank you and turned to storm past the tall Slytherin. Scorpius was finally able to look at her face - it was pale but had blotches of red here and there, and her eyes . . . the usually bright hazel had dulled to a sheenless light brown.

"Weasley-" Scorpius faltered. It wasn't really his issue. _Why the hell do I care? We're enemies. I don't give a shit about her_. But he forged on, thought he sure as hell didn't know why. "Weasley, are you okay?"

"Fuck off Malfoy, and let me get through. Why would you care?" She said, before barging past him with a push with her shoulder. _Why_ do _I care?_ Malfoy shook his head to get his mind off the small redhead and gathered the rest of his ingredients. When he returned with everything he needed and his brass cauldron, he saw Marcie rather aggressively cracking beetle shells and chopping them up with a size of knife that was far too big for the task at hand. Scorpius sighed and started unpacking all of the ingredients from his arms, and turned on the heat underneath his cauldron.

"What did I do?" He asked in a rather bored voice. Marcie's eyes flashed and her hair had already started falling out of her ponytail. With her knife and glare, Malfoy was sure she was going to kill him.

"You're taking her side." She spat, her face hardening. Malfoy stared at Marcie, completely and utterly lost.

"What?" He asked, eyebrows scrunching together.

"You've taken Rose's side! I thought you hated her!" She said, gesturing wildly with her knife. Scorpius carefully wrenched the long, very sharp looking blade out of her hand and laid it flat on the table.

"I'm sorry, you've lost me. As far as I know, I didn't know there were sides, and I don't see how getting a jar of lionfish spines down from the top shelf constitutes as taking a side."

"You helped the _enemy_. That's as good as taking sides." Malfoy sighed.

"The _enemy_? What is this, some kind of Muggle drama shit show? Look, I don't understand why this fight is so bad-"

"Why it's so bad?!" Marcie shrieked, before quickly quieting her tone after a glare from Babbit, but continued with the same intensity in her voice.

"I thought you would _understand_ more than anyone what I'm going through! Don't you _see_ how much of an utter _bitch_ she is? And once she doesn't like you she, practically turns the whole school against you! I mean, the school is basically all Weasleys, they breed like rabbits -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't say stuff like that, believe me, only racist purebloods say shit like that like my grandfather Lucius." Marcie at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"Look, I didn't mean it like _that_ , it's just I feel like if you piss off _one_ Weasley, since their parents were war heroes, every has to kiss their asses and hate you too. AND I pissed off the spawn of 2/3 of the Golden Trio, for Merlin's sake, do you realize what that's like?" Marcie steamed. Scorpius let out a short, barking laugh, and started to finish cutting the beetles, handing a smaller, less dangerous looking knife to Marcie to start cutting Valerian Root.

"Believe me, if what you say is true, then I would probably be castrated by now. You know more than anyone how much Rose hates me." He said. Marcie looked at him sideways.

"And do you hate her?" She inquired, scraping the root into the simmering cauldron.

"Of course." Scorpius said, brushing off the question casually, but on the inside, his insides were turning. That had been the first time someone had legitimately asked him if he hated Rose Weasley. Sure, he had spent his fair share of days stomping around the Slytherin boys' dormitories ranting about how much he utterly despised Rose fucking Weasley, but he never had been asked. Everyone just sort of assumed that they would have an instant rivalry. But Malfoy refused to let Marcie see how the question rattle him, because he really did hate Rose Weasley. It felt like he was swallowing burning coals whenever he saw her.

"But that's besides the point. Look, I'm not saying that you're going to have to become best friends with Rose again, and I'm not on 'her side' as you like to put it, but, maybe, you don't have to be so, I don't know, hostile around her all the time? Or at least stop trying to act like we're best friends. You seem like a decent enough person, but acting all weird around me is seriously discouarging any friendship. I mean, I know this fight making you miserable. You haven't been able to hit a target with a bludger for weeks!" Marcie bristled at the jab at her quidditch skills. She knew that the only reason why even made it past the first round of tryouts for Hufflepuff was because the captain knew her. She had been playing really badly for the first practices and tryouts.

"Oh, what do you care Malfoy. You're a real git, you know?" She said, but it was clear that she was listening to what Scorpius was saying.

"I know that. Has she tried to reconcile, or apologize? If not, then I don't see why you should, but if she has, maybe it's a sort of forgive and forget situation?" Marcie sighed, yanking the top off the horned toad slug livers and wrinkled her nose.

"She's sent me a bouquet of flowers every two days. Daisies. My favorite." Marcie smiled. Well no, not smiled - more like the edges of her frown softened.

"Flowers?" Malfoy asked, slightly amused, "Like someone post-break up trying to get back with the other person?" Marcie chuckled shortly, and nodded.

"Yeah, sorta like that." The two fell into a not awkward, but not comfortable silence. Malfoy looked back at Rose and saw that she was trying to explain to Melora that they had to wait five seconds between putting in half liters of Unicorn horn extract. It was then that Scorpius decided to make it his goal to make Marcie and Rose friends again. He was stupendously bored. Nothing was interesting or really even too difficult without the wandfights they would get into. Not until midterms began after Christmas break, anyways. Also, Malfoy had taken a liking to Marcie over the past few weeks. Though most of her chatter was meaningless, sometimes she would be very witty, and, if she wasn't Rose's best friend (well, she wasn't then but Scorpius decided she would be again), Malfoy would have liked to befriend her. For some odd reason, he had this want for Marcie to be happy. After a few more minutes of chopping and adding to the cauldron, the potion finally bubbled and turned purple, signalling that they would be finished with adding anything to the potion until the next class. Babbit was allowing anyone who reached that stage to leave class. Scorpius had to admit, working with Marcie wasn't hard - she was pretty damn incerdible at potions, and Malfoy certainly didn't feel like she was dragging him down in any way. Scorpius shouldered his bag and checked his schedule. He had NEWT Transfiguration with Fred. Fred was pretty smart, but was absolute shit at potions. If Fred was in NEWT Potions, Malfoy was sure that the Weasley would have rigged the cauldron paper slip thing so the two could have partnered together, and Scorpius could have avoided the strange feeling that was going on in his stomach. He turned back to Marcie.

"Look, I mean what I said about trying to forgive and forget. I know it may seem bad now, but believe me the school doesn't hate you because of Rose. I am actually pretty good friends with one of the Weasleys, and he doesn't care that Rose and I don't really get along." Marcie half smiled - an actual smile, not just a frown-softening.

"You're not so bad Malfoy."

"You're not too bad yourself, Scamander." Malfoy half grinned back. Marcie's smiled faltered.

"But the thing is I can forgive. But I can't forget. I don't think anyone should forget something that hurt them." Malfoy's step towards the door stopped. He turned around and ignored the twisting feeling in his abdomen.

"I suppose you're right. I shouldn't ask you to forget. But the first step is to forgive. So try that first. Cross the forgetting bridge when you come to it." Marcie nodded.

"You sure you're not a girl, Malfoy? You sure give good friendship advice." She smirked. Scorpius returned the expression, left her behind in the NEWT Potions classroom and met Fred outside the classroom. He left her with a fat, balding professor and a tired Rose Weasley still trying to explain the concept of paying attention to Melora Goldstein, who found Scorpius' ass a much more entertaining as he walked out the dungeons.

 **A/N: So that's 'bout it kids! I tried to make this chapter longer. I'm not going to lie, I am not super please with my writing in this chapter, but writing it gave me a lot of ideas and a clearer vision of my plotline for this story. Thank you all so much for reading, and especially to all of those who followed and favorited since I posted last!** ** _Please please PLEASE_ review about everything! If you liked, didn't like, critiques, and comments! How do you guys like the Marcie/Scorpius friendship I'm trying to start? So far, I'm only doing Scorpius or Rose 3rd person limited POV, but should I expand to maybe Fred or Marcie, or maybe even Rocco? Tell me your thoughts.**

 **I can't promise that my next update will come out quickly - the interval between update was pretty quick this time, but I'm not sure I'll be able to be so quick next time! I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be in Rose's POV. Love y'all, and stay tuned!**

 **3, RestisRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 3/13/16**

 **Updated: 4/17/16**


	7. In Which Popcorn and Quidditch Robes Fly

**A/N: Ok people, this will be a long one, but _PLEASE READ,_ especially if you have been following this story prior to March. Also, please note what will be a lengthy apology at the end of this chapter**

 **So hellllooooo my beautiful friends. Long time, no see, eh? Okay, it hasn't been _that_ long, but a very long time for me! However, I have a confession to make, dear readers. I haven't been completely absent from the fanfiction scene. Indeed, I have read and enjoyed many stories out there. I haven't had writer's block, per se. I simply had so many ideas for where this story could go that I just couldn't find the resolve in myself to actually write this next chapter. BUT, I have _not_ been a useless, idle potato! I updated ALL of the chapters I have written, smoothed out some wrinkles in the and have added some MAJOR plot points, that WILL affect the rest of the story. So, if you read my story prior to mid-Marchish, I suggest going back and at least skimming the chapters to see what I have added. Just a quick recap from what I can think of off the top of my head: Rocco isn't as big of an asshole and Scorpius isn't either, there is a big Quidditch league open among the European Wizardry schools and the quidditch teams will be harder to get on to, Head students are now from each house, Hugo is now a bomb ass keeper, Rose actually has a personality in the early chapters, a new character Amoury (a Beauxbatons exchange student) was introduced, Marcie/Rose fight changed to be in the mid-ish to late days of September, Rose's friend "Dasha" is now a male "Derek", the fight is a little more thought out, the bonding moment is stronger between Rose and Hugo, only two weeks between their fight and the potions class, and the potion is not less in potency. **

**And okay. I lied to you all. This chapter will not be Rose POV. Yup. This chapter will be part of a sort of mini plot, and the NEXT chapter will definitely be Rose. Thank you _so much_ for putting up with this note, and enjoy!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"You sure you're not a girl, Malfoy? You sure give good friendship advice." She smirked. Scorpius returned the expression, left her behind in the NEWT Potions classroom and met Fred outside the classroom. He left her with a fat, balding professor and a tired Rose Weasley still trying to explain the concept of paying attention to Melora Goldstein, who found Scorpius' ass a much more entertaining as he walked out the dungeons._

"-absolutely perfect conditions for a quidditch game, sun with a slight breeze -"

The smell of muggle kettle corn and hotdogs mingled with the sweet scent of cauldron cakes and butterbeer. The stands, which were crowded during any game, were especially chaotic this time around. Everyone came to this match - teachers, students, and wizards from all over England came to see the two teams battle it out. The Weasley clan took up nearly an entire stand themselves, all avid quidditch fans, and of course, they wanted to see their kids play. Draco and Astoria Malfoy looked very uncomfortable next to the ruckus caused by their loud, red haired stand mates. Even the infamous Oliver Wood of the current international cup winners, the Irish Pollawares, was rumored to make an appearance - he, of course, would never miss his daughter's first match of her seventh year, especially with her being a captain and all. The organized chaos brimmed with excitement, on the edge of their wooden benches with anticipation.

The first game of the Hogwarts quidditch season. The first game.

Slytherin and Hufflepuff teams had yet to make an appearance, but their housemates, along with the other houses, had long been waiting in the stands. Fifth year Roslyn Marks shouted into her wand, announcing statistics and chances of winning until the game began.

"Well, Hufflepuff captain Eleanor Wood certainly has quite the team picked out. Wood and both Ian Macalaster and Brock Leeman from Hufflepuff have already been recruited to various teams in the British national league already. And Lucy Weasley with Lily Potter as chasers, I mean damn - sorry professor - dang, Hufflepuff is here to win. But that by no means makes the Slytherin team an underdog - with Philip Straiff and Corianne Lee as chaser and keeper respectively, Rocco Zabini and Albus Potter as beaters, and a captain such as Scorpius Malfoy, that's one helluva - ugh, sorry professor - HECKUVA team. We know one thing, this match is gonna be good."

The teams had yet to make an appearance on the fields - they were warming up and getting ready in their respective locker rooms, while their captains were elsewhere. Wood was meeting with her dad, and Scorpius was in his separate prep room that came with his head dormitory.

So what was Scorpius doing in there? Most assumed he was cleaning his broom, getting warmed up, doing whatever quidditchy thing the players did before they went on the field - or, snogging a girl, like most people assumed was Scorpius' case. But no, Scorpius wasn't doing any of that.

He was writing.

The special room in his dorm, as if figuring out his needs and adjusting to them, had produced a small desk in the corner, complete with a comfortable armchair, an inkwell, and paper.

For, you see, Scorpius had a secret. A secret that no one would even assume to be true.

Scorpius loved to write. He loved the way that perfectly crafted words would coalesce into one, beautiful picture. He loved the way words could inspire - entire wars have been fought over simple words. No one knew about his writing. It didn't exactly fit in with the relaxed, charming image he worked hard to maintain, and with Fred, writing was something far too close, far too personal to his heart. Writing relaxed and cleared Scorpius' mind, and so it became a personal habit of his to retreat into the seclusion of previously his dorms, and now his Quidditch Room, and to spend at least ten minutes writing before a match.

Another secret of Scorpius': the two fields that he had actual job interest in were either journalism or auror-ship, a specialty in espionage. Both jobs would be unacceptable to his father. Sure, the elder Malfoy would be outwardly supportive of either path, but Scorpius knew that his father would be disappointed if he became an auror or journalist. As Draco had been groomed to be the perfect pureblood Malfoy son, he wanted his son to have more freedom and choice - but that didn't mean he would be okay with his only son joining the very group of people who put his father in Azkaban to rot. And of course the Malfoys had some fortune to hold up, and an authors salary surely wasn't going to cover the expenses. That's why Scorpius kept his dreams from his father and even his best friends, Rocco, Al, and even Fred.

But writing let Scorpius release his stresses. Nobody understood the pressures Scorpius had on him, put on by adults, peers and himself. Nobody understood that at some points, Scorpius felt like he was about to blow a fuse at any moment. And nobody knew how writing sometimes helped the blond teenager work out his problems. And there was one problem that Scorpius could not get out of his head. And that was little miss Rose Weasley.

Marcie and the redhead had somewhat resumed their old friendship - well, "resumed" is not quite the right word. The right phrase would probably be "Marcie managed to be civil around Rose, and in turn Rose seemed to be roused out of her depressed stupor". At least, everyone thought Rose had been roused. But Scorpius could tell. After years of animosity, the Malfoy could tell what bothered his enemy, what her feelings were, what made the girl tick. It was, after all, his job as an entertainer of the Hogwarts student body for seven years to know how to effectively piss off Rose Ginevra Weasley.

Rose what putting on one helluva facade though - she was picking her usual fights with Scorpius, was laughing along with her friends, studying hard all the time. But there was just something . . . off. Something miniscule, almost imperceptible showed through the tiny cracks of the cement wall that Rose Weasley had put up. And it seemed to Scorpius that he was the only one who had noticed them.

And that bothered him

A lot.

So it was this idea - no, not even an idea, a notion, a feeling, really, that caused Scorpius to be scribbling quickly on a piece of parchment. His poem was just wrapping up into a beautiful collection of stanzas, almost done -

 _"Malfoy, if you don't get your pretty arse out this door, I swear on McGonagall's frilly dress robes, I will shove Rocco's taser so far up your fucking asshole the doctors wont know how you died from the goddamn autopsy!"_

Oh yes. That was pre-match Albus. He was quite the nasty one, wasn't he? Normally, the younger Potter boy wasn't nearly so profane or violent, but, probably due to the quidditch extremism shoved down his throat by his whole family since his birth, Albus would get insanely intense before the games.

"Malfoy! I know you're in there mate, so why don't you come out right about fucking now?" The banging continued. Scorpius groaned, extracting himself slowly from the comfortable confines of his armchair.

"Just a give me a bloody minute, Al, Merlin's beard!" Scorpius said, running a hand down his face as Albus continued to forcefully slam his entire body into the door. Scorpius ignored the banging, stretching his arms quickly and running a hand through his messy hair before picking up his broom. He walked down the tunnel to the door to the locker rooms. He thre open the door to a very nervous looking Al, who looked as if he were about to barrel right through the now empty space.

"C'mon, you big git, you have to say at least a few words to the troops before we head out!" Albus said, gesturing to the small gathering of green that had formed around the two seventh years.

Scorpius looked around, taking in his team. He knew that Hufflepuff had a kickass team assembled, but they were a mostly new team - the Hufflepuff team had been changing players many times over the years, never actually playing as one whole team. With the exception of Freja Marijeson , who was a third year chaser, the entire A team (the starting team) had been playing together for four years, starting as the substitutes from the B team, working their way up to the A team with grit, spit, and a whole lot of trips to Madam Pomfrey. The Slytherin B team had been training ferociously for the past month and a half, bonding over their hatred for Al's practice since the beginning of the year. Albus and Scorpius were co-captains of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and the two split it up so that Scorpius would run the A team practices, while Al would handle the newbies in the B practices, as Malfoy himself just had far too much on his plate with his being the Slytherin Head Boy and all. Al put the poor team through the ringer, and while Slytherin B quidditch team members could be heard groaning loudly about their sore bodies since the day their practices started, they had gotten so good that they honestly could have played as an A team. Al stood on Scorpius' left, and gave a speech directed to the B team, and Scorpius sort of zoned out, watching his team instead.

Scorpius knew that, in that moment, he had never felt so invested, so much love for the game. His chest swelled as he saw the looks of determination in his teammates eyes, their green robes causing an almost ethereal effect to descend upon the locker rooms. All of them watched him expectantly, and while Scorpius had a way with words, he found his ability had deserted him. He swallowed hard, his voice sticking in his throat.

"Go out there," Scorpius began, his voice gravelly and intense, "Go out there, and kick some ass. You've worked hard for this, and I want to see you guys kill it. I know you can. They say that we're the underdog. Use that to your advantage. Albus, Rocco, you guys are big. Pretend like you aren't agile, then whack 'em when they least expect it. Marina, Freja, Philip, they expect Freja to be the weak link, as she hasn't been playing with you guys as much. Use your small builds and teamwork to get that quaffle through the goalposts. Corianne, I want you to be quick. Throw your body in front of the hoops. I mean this in the best way as possible, but I don't care if you break an arm - we can fix that. We can't get this game back. This is _our_ win. This is _our_ game." The two teams clapped loudly, and Scorpius decided that he hadn't done too badly for his first captain speech. Al clapped the Malfoy on the back and shouted the House quidditch cheer, the rest of the team shouting the responses.

"S FOR SLYTHERIN, SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN! SLITHERWHO?"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"WE GONNA WHAT?"

"WE GONNA WIN!" The team, all pumped up and ready for the game, and began running their way done the hallway to the doors to the quidditch pitch.

"Mate, what's in your hand?" Rocco said amongst the rally cries of the team, pulling on Scorpius' arm. Scorpius looked down to see a piece of parchment in his palm. _Oh shit_ , Scorpius thought.

"Oh nothing, I'll just throw it back into my room." Scorpius ran back to the door, and threw it open with a quiet mutter of the password, only to find his heart drop. You know how the secret room changed according to the needs of the occupant? Well Scorpius decided that something got fucked up, because all he found was a dark empty tunnel. _Fuck it_ , Scorpius thought, and he flung the balled up piece of parchment into the corridor, and slammed the door. Malfoy jogged to catch up to the rest of his team, making it to the front as they burst their way out of the locker rooms. The bright light of the noon sun beat down on the team. Scorpius shielded his eyes, seeking out the Hufflepuff teams coming from the opposite side of the pitch. Scorpius would have never admitted this to his team, but as he saw the Hufflepuff team come out from their locker rooms, hair flying and the sun behind them, he was a little intimidated.

"And here comes the Hufflepuff team with Wood leading them. Oh, and there's Coach Medeira coming out."

"CAPTAINS, HERE!" The loud, intense coach was indeed a man of few words. Scorpius and Eleanor walked to the center of the pit, each eyeing each other with disdain, doing their best to intimidate the other.

"SHAKE HANDS!" Medeira yelled. Both of the teenagers winced, unable to keep their intimidating facades over the fact that their eardrums were exploding from Medeira's screams. The two grabbed each other's hands, eyes locked on each other, and each one trying to break the others hand. Scorpius finally released Eleanor, for the sake of starting the game, but she just looked smug, as if she had won something. _Yeah, well fuck that, we'll beat your asses into the ground,_ Scorpius thought, walking back to his A team who had already taken their ready positions at the Slytherin end of the field.

"Go out there and kick some ass, guys." Al shouted to the group of Slytherins on the field and on the benches next to the pitch. Scorpius felt some butterflies in his stomach but squashed them down as he lowered his goggles on to his face.

"PLAYERRRSSS, MOUNT YOUR BROOMS!" Medeira's voice silenced the loud murmur of the crowd in the stands above. The silence was punctured by the rustle of quidditch robes as the teams got on to their brooms.

"THERE WILL BE NO FOUL PLAY! I EXPECT A FAIR, CLEAN GAME FROM ALL OF YOU!" Eleanor Wood and Scorpius glared each other down at opposite ends of the pitch.

"THE BALLS ARE RELEASED IN THREE. TWO. ONE." A cacophony of cheers accompanied the rapid ascent of all the players. Scorpius detatched himself from the game, his eyes darting around, trying to find the snitch. As time passed, he only heard snippets of Roslyn's commentary as he combed the field.

" . . . and Hufflepuff takes possession of the quaffle, Lucy Weasley weaves in and around players, she shoots, and she - MISSES, Lee throws her body into that one! Quaffle with Slytherin . . ." Five minutes pass. Ten. Fifteen.

". . . And that goal by Hufflepuff by Lawrence gives them the lead of 30-20 . . ." Another ten minutes of commentary go in one of Scorpius' ears and out the other.

" . . . Oh! A well aimed bludger to the stomach from Albus Potter to his sister, Lily, takes her out of the running as of now. Medics running to her position, that's one family feud we don't want to get into later - Merlin, professor, I'm _sorry_ \- . . . " Half an hour.

" . . . A goal by Marijeson, damn that girl is on fire, her third of the day! That puts Slytherin in the lead at 120-100 . . ." Neither Scorpius nor the the Hufflepuff Seeker, Mark Dreider, had seen any sign of the Snitch. Malfoy knew that his team was tiring. He decided to call in some of the B troops. Malfoy flew to the benches.

"Mary, tag out Rocco, Henry tag out Freja, Silas, tag out Al. Kick some Hufflebutt." Scorpius laughed at his own joke. The subs, all fourth years, looked eager to prove themselves, energetic and adding a new flair of excitement to the game, while the original members of the starting team acted put out but were secretly relieved - they definitely were tiring. Scorpius flew back up into the darkening sky, keeping his eyes out for the golden blur that was bound to show up any time soon. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Scorpius tried to keep his mind on the snitch, but he was getting worried. Slytherin newbies along with the exhausted starters had begun to lag a bit against the Hufflepuff team.

" . . . Mary Horan si about to score aaaannndd, HIT by a spinning bludger by Marcie Scamander, who seems to be playing a bit better since the beginning of the year. This means Hufflepuff is staying ahead at 210-170 . . . " Scorpius knew that he needed to find the snitch before the gap widened too much with his tiring team. Thirty more minutes.

" . . . and that goal by great teamwork between Philip Hoff, Marina Santiago, and Marijeson, but Slytherin is still behind Hufflepuff at 200-220 . . ."

" . . . Macalaster and Weasley manage a double goal, whoa, that is something I have not seen at Hogwarts in four years! 40 points to Hufflepuff! That puts Hufflepuff 50 points ahead at 270! . . ." Just as he was losing hope for winning the game, he saw a golden blur out of the corner of his eye hurtling towards the field. The Hufflepuff seeker and Scorpius locked eyes before diving towards the ground.

". . . THE SNITCH HAS BEEN SPOTTED! DREIDER AND MALFOY AR DIVING TOWARDS THE GROUND!" A collective gasp and silence fell over the crowds, all holding baited breath as they watched the streak of dark green pull slightly ahead of the bright yellow.

". . . AND THEY'RE COMING DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, THEY'RE REACHING FOR THE SNITCH . . . "

And Scorpius felt his gloved hands close around the cold metal, wings beating against his palm.

 **A/N: And so that's it! And please don't be mad, I have an explanation! Okay, so I had a ridiculous month of homework in March, and I went on vacation international in April, and I was sort of lazy, and I had writer's block, and I'm sorry! Please please please review, favorite, and/or follow! Love y'all**

 **Posted: 5/11/16**


	8. In Which Cake Fixes All

**A/N: Hmmmmm. I have a bone to pick with you, dear readers. I will be honest - I know I haven't been updating this story many times, and sometimes I get writer's block. But I thrive on positive reinforcement. I need you guys to let me know if you want more of this. I don't want to be one of those stories where the author works really hard, but it only has like 15 reviews. Honestly, if you guys aren't interested, please just let me know! If you guys are, review! Tell me if you liked it. Tell me if you hated it. Tell me something random about your day - I don't care, just drop a review! Also, I hate those authors who say they won't update unless they get x amount of reviews, but I can say that I will lose motivation. I might stop the story - I almost did a few months ago. Anyways, without further ado, Chapter 8: "In Which Cake Fixes All".**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _". . . AND THEY'RE COMING DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, THEY'RE REACHING FOR THE SNITCH . . . "_

 _And Scorpius felt his gloved hands close around the cold metal, wings beating against his palm._

 **Trigger Warning: Body Image Issues and self-harm. Okay guys, there is NOTHING GRAPHIC in this, especially because I want to keep the plot of this T. This makes me uncomfortable to write, and I truly hope that it is uncomfortable for you to read. But its the truth. I know as a teenage girl the issues that go along with being one, or really a teenager in general. I feel that if I did not include at least some parts of this, I would not be true to Rose as a vibrant character and personality. However, I totally understand if anyone doesn't want to read this chapter for trigger reasons, but I only ask that you wait until the next update to continue reading! I will include a short summary of this chapter before the next chapter in case anybody has an issue. Thank you so much!**

 **Rose POV**

She hadn't realized how much she relied on Marcie until she wasn't there. She never realized how much she relied on her friend until she would turn to make fun of Binn's droning voice only to not see the short haired, vivacious blonde, but the dull Simon Preston who chewed on his nails sitting next to her. She never realized how much she relied on her friend until she was working on a particular difficult Rune translation and Marcie wasn't there expertly translating right next to her. SHe never realized how much she relied on her friend until she would wake up in the middle of the night, shaking from a nightmare, and she knew she couldn't sneak into the Hufflepuff dorms and play exploding Snap until dawn with Marcie until the sun came up to distract her.

Rose Weasley never fucking realized, and that was the goddamn problem. Rose Weasley never realized what she had until it was too late.

The redhead was currently sitting on her bed, chewing aimlessly on the end of her quill (a nervous tic inherited by her father), hair held up in a messy bun by her wand and wearing a childish onesie decorated in snitches, desperately trying to work out a theoretical potions concept that simply couldn't hold her attention. Her eyes kept straying to her slightly ajar window. Even though she was a good four stories up and half a castle away, the sounds and scents were familiarly cloying. THe screams of excitement and scent of cauldron cakes and cheap, bootlegger Firewhiskey could only mean the first match of quidditch of the year. The cheers of the pre-game parties floated through the window, and if she closed her eyes, Rose could almost pretend that she was in the stands with all her friends, a gold and black scarf wrapped around her neck while she hollered herself hoarse.

See, Rose Weasley was an absolute quiddith fanatic. Once her father realized that his daughter would never remotely figure out how to mount her broom correctly, let alone actually hold a ball while riding, he decided that she was far from a lost cause as far as quidditch was concerned. While Hugo could actually keep himself physically coordinated as well as actually be a kickass goalkeeper while being on a broom, Rose knew everything else about quidditch. Stats, plays, favorite sugar quill of a player, you name it, Rose knew it. During quidditch matches, Hermione and Hugo would be making sure that the house was still functioning while Ron, Uncle Harry, Albus and Rose would be staring at the little TV that wizards had adapted from Muggle culture, unable to be torn from it for days. Rose, after getting over the initial disappointment and worry that her father could never be proud of her as she could barely ride a broom, found that not only was she still the perfect little Angel in her father's eyes, she found that there was no other feeling that she loved more than the one she got while in the quidditch stands.

The fear and adrenaline that ran ripples through the crowds, the yelling vendors that would wander up and down the walkways, the sore throat she got from screaming, the music that blared from seemingly everywhere during games - Rose lived for that feeling. She lived for the love of the game.

But she couldn't work up the courage to get into her robes, let alone the quidditch stands. Marcie still hated her. The girl wouldn't even look at her in the halls, though the two had a silent agreement not to cause anymore fights or disturbances in school. Marcie stopped getting extremely drunk at parties. Rose stopped halting in the middle of hallways with tears running down her face. Simple stuff, like that.

Rose . . . well, she was having a difficult time. She hadn't gotten that close to those feelings two years ago until this fight with Marcie. She held on, but just, just barely. Barely, if only for Hugo. But Rose shook her mind off of the sounds floating through her window and tried to turn her focus back to the sheet in front of her with a huff and a fixing of her glasses.

Her room was decent, but just barely. Derek had come by two days earlier (Hugo let him in to her dorm - that traitor) and promptly declared the space unlivable. While Derek was a bit OCD and had the flair for the dramatics, it was true - her room was a toxic wasteland. Broken ink bottles with the black remnants soaked into the floor were scattered all around from her growing frustration with herself. Chocolate frog wrappers lay strewn across every available surface, and broken quills and ripped up parchment was present everywhere one looked.

A toad wasn't fit to live in Rose's room.

So, through the enlistment of Amoury and Linda as help, Derek and Rose deep cleaned and sanitized her bedroom. The great room was another day of their weekend spent cleaning as well. Yvonne was conspicuously scarce - she had sort of taken Marcie's side of the argument, and while the others did not really "chose" a side, they did actually spend some time with the Weasley, for which she was eternally grateful. Who knew what she would have done in those weeks of relapse if her friends and brother hadn't been shipping her around from class to class, from study group to study group, from meal to meal. Rose honestly had no idea what she would have done without her friends. She honestly didn't know why she didn't call upon Scorpius. Honest. She simply felt like, for the first time, he wouldn't understand. And besides, with their duties as Heads and NEWT students, Rose found that the same boiling hatred they had for each other in years previous had fizzled to a low burn, or at least taken a back seat in their priorities.

Rose was at least able to put up a facade about her feelings now. She had to admit - she was one helluva actress. If Rose didn't want to be an Auror, she would have certainly have had a career ahead of her as a movie star.

The redhead continued to try and study Theoretical Brewing, and continued to fail to do so as she would listen to the game begin outside. The narration was truly nail biting. As an avid qudditch fan, she couldn't help but let out a few shrieks and relieved breaths as she listened to the game go by. If she had to guess, she would have said that the Hufflepuffs would probably win - not only because of their recruited members, but because she knew how well Marcie worked under pressure. But the game itself was one of skill and bludgeoning, and the third time she heard that a whizzing bludger had almost hit Marcie, Rose slammed her book shut. She couldn't listen to this anymore. The Scamander girl might have hated her, but Rose never hated Marcie, and she couldn't listen to this and not be at the game, ready to help if something went wrong. And so she did what she usually did before games for Marcie. She went to the kitchens.

Rose threw on some decent clothes but kept the glasses and bun, brushed her teeth, and stepped lightly down the stairs and moved quickly out the door after knocking for Berutherford. She ran down the hallway, forgetting to salute back to the now miffed Berutherford, she tried to pretend that this was just how she normally did it, that she and Marcie were still on good terms.

After making three wrong turns from being too lost in her own head, Rose finally got to the painting of the bowl of fruit in front of the kitchen. Expertly tickling the pear to get it to reveal the green door knob, Rose was hit with the overwhelming but not entirely unpleasant smell of cinnamon and sausage. The house elves, looking the same as always in their pristine Hogwarts towels and oven mitts, seemed too busy in making the post-Quidditch feast to notice the small redhead standing uncomfortably in the even smaller doorway. Only two older looking house elves seemed to notice the Weasley. They dropped their pans and ran up to the girl, enveloping her in a two way hug. Rose began to laugh, not because she found anything particularly funny, but because it had been so long since she had felt anyone's arms around her besides Hugo's lanky frame that the wiry but sturdy forms of her two favorite house elves were incredibly comforting.

"Amicus! Amare! How are you two?" She said, kneeling down so she would be around their height. Amicus, stroking his wispy beard he was incredibly proud of, for house elves rarely grow hair anywhere besides their ears and nostrils, chuckled.

"Oh we're fine right here, but we'd be better if you visited us every once in a while!" He joked. Amare smacked him lightly, her round, motherly figure quite strong from years of kitchen work.

"Oh Cus, stop that! She has probably been too busy with her NEWTs and homework to come visit us old coots. I don't blame her!" She said. Rose shook her head, glad to see these two again. They had been the first two house elves to have a legally recognized marriage by the state. Before, their marriages, while encouraged, hadn't been legally valid, and therefore easy to break up. Hermione Granger, Head of the Department of Magical Law, fought for her SPEW bills tooth and nail until they passed through the Council of Law. Amicus and Amare were the first two house elves to be recognized as husband and wife ten years ago, after already being together for fifty years. Rose had befriended them her first year, only finding out their status in the house-elf world when she mentioned her friends in passing to her mom.

"No, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I should have come earlier. It is a month into the school year . . ." Rose said remorsefully.

"Oh hush, dear, I was only making fun. So, to what do we owe this pleasure! I am sorry that we cannot sit down and have some tea, we are quite busy as of now, but can we get you something? Some toast? A crumpet?" Amicus asked. Rose shook her head, smiling at her luck to have such wonderful friends.

"Oh, no no no. I was wondering if I could perhaps make my specialty though?" Rose inquired.

"Of course dear! We were a bit worried when you didn't show up earlier, but we were so busy . . ." Amicus trailed off worriedly, subconsciously rubbing his arms where burn marks were scattered by his previous owners.

"No! It's totally fine - you two have much more to worry about than _me_! You two have never made a bad meal as long as I have known you, and I don't want that streak to be broken today!" Rose smiled. Amare grinned back, holding her husband closer.

"Why, not to brag, but that _is_ true, dear. You know where everything is right?" Amare asked, bobbing her head.

"Yes I do. Thank you two so much!" Rose hugged the two before the couple went off hand in hand, ordering their underlings about as kitchen managers. The ten year old silver rings were nothing fancy, but they gleamed with a cleanliness only achieved by careful cleaning and love. Rose knew that one day, she wanted something that Amare and Amicus had.

The redhead went off to the pantry gathering the ingredients she needed for her gift. Rose had been making this gift every Hufflepuff quidditch match for the past four years, a sweet treat for Marcie to eat whenever she got off the pitch from a game. Rose worked feverishly, gratefully accepting the apron one of the elves had offered her, but refused any more help. A few tears slipped down her face now and then, but none of the elves came up anymore, and for that, she was thankful. She always made these by herself, no magic at all. It was a little thing between Marcie and Rose, and no fight was going to stop her from breaking that tradition. The last time she had done so, it was two years ago . . . Rose jumped, realizing that her arm had been baking for two split seconds on an open grill without her realizing. Letting out a small scream, Rose cradled her left arm in her hand, kindly refusing any aid that other elves had offered, slightly scared. Not because she was burned, but because she recognized the feeling she got in addition to the pain. A release.

Two years ago, during the winter of her fifth year, Rose felt everything coming to a head. She felt her grades slipping, her friendships seemed to fade, and recently, the _Daily Prophet_ had written an article about her and her family out shopping over Christmas break. Articles about her and her family were not uncommon at all at that point, but this one was different. This one attacked her personally. Rose still remembered exactly what the article had said.

 _"Rose Weasley: Pregnant or just fat?"_

Of course, her parents sued straight away and were concerned as ever, and of course fifteen year old Rose pretended like it didn't bother her at all, the it was just another stupid article trying to get attention. But inside, Rose knew. Every time she had looked in the mirror ever since she had starting growing boobs at age thirteen, she knew she was too fat. Her stomach stuck out too much. Her thighs were practically monsters. Her butt was too small and her breasts were too low on her wide shoulders. And when she looked in the mirror that night, Rose could only think,

 _Wow, Marcie has never looked this fat._

 _I bet Linda doesn't hate her butt or thighs._

 _Lily has better boobs than me and she's fucking twelve years old_.

 _I hate my body. I hate it. I HATE IT. FAT. UGLY._

 _No one will ever love you Rose Weasley_ _._

And it was that night that Rose picked up her razor and cut across her stomach because it was "too fat". And she did it again a week later. And again two days after that. And again. And again. And again. There were a total of twenty three cuts on her stomach when Hugo found her in a barely used prefects bathroom on the eighth floor. Rose had told him about the bathroom and its password in passing because she thought that he would like to take a bath every now and again. He just happened to find his older sister holding a razor in her hand, glaring at her too small stomach that was covered an scabs. Rose had never seen her thirteen year old brother so scared. It took a lot of medication and a lot of muggle therapy for Rose to feel even like she was worth anything anymore. Along the road of cutting, Rose lost her pride, dignity, hope. She had stopped eating. She believed that she wasn't worth loving. She would never live up to her parents. She would forever be a disappointment to the world. Just a big fucking disappointment.

But she got better. She really did. At seventeen years old, Rose felt like she had a bomb ass body. She knew she was smart. But she knew she could always relapse. She found herself at night sometimes reaching for the razor that brought that feeling of release. Marcie was the one who helped her then. Rose vowed to never again let her brother see her with a razor in her hands. So Marcie was the one who held. Marcie was the one who talked with her. Marcie was the only one who knew about Rose's issue outside of her immediate family. And Rose knew she couldn't throw that friendship away.

After accepting some ointment and gauze but refusing to go to the Hospital Wing, Rose continued to work on her dessert. Twenty minutes later, a perfect chocolate lava cake with raspberries and no-melt vanilla ice cream stood in front of Rose, it's perfect cleanliness contrasting sharply with Rose's flour spattered, burned body. Thanking the elves and waving a quick goodbye to Amare and Amicus, Rose plated her creation on china and walked slowly to the entrances of the locker rooms. All four houses had their locker rooms in the same corridor, and so Rose just stood outside the Hufflepuff entrance, waiting for the game to end.

Her heart sank when she heard cheering and whooping coming from the Slytherin locker rooms. Slytherin won. Going over the stats in her mind, she knew that the Slytherin team was good, but the big what-if was their B team. Rose knew she had to file that information away for later as her mind switched to preparing herself for a confrontation with Malfoy. Though the two fought nearly as much as they had in the past, he still rattled her to the core when his white blonde hair showed around the corridor, leading a whooping team with Albus out of the locker room. Albus spotted his cousin, his eyes lighting up, and he loped over.

"Ah, little cousin, here to give me a cake for winning this match?" He asked jokingly, knowing that Rose always waited outside the locker rooms for Marcie. Rose laughed and pushed his face away from the lava cake.

"Nope. You're older than me by two months, I'd hardly consider me littler than you!" She laughed, "But you do get a hug and my congratulations!" She said, hugging and kissing Al's cheek. She really was proud of him. Malfoy sauntered over, putting his arm around Al's shoulders.

"Not for us Weasley? Vanilla's my favorite!" He said, swiping his finger across the top of the perfect ice cream scoop, popping it in his mouth. Rose flushed.

"Seriously, Malfoy? I worked for a solid hour and a half making this look perfect!" She said, her voice level slightly higher than average.

"Ah well, I was on a Quidditch pitch for four hours, my apologies if I'm a bit hungry, love," Scorpius said, his voice twinged with a bit of annoyance, "It's just an ice cream scoop." Rose took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool. _He doesn't know the situation. He doesn't know the situation. He doesn't know the situation_ _._ Al, sensing a possible dispute brewing, quickly and expertly distracted Malfoy.

"Oh wait, the team's leaving without us!" He said, pointing down the hallway where indeed the Slytherin team was running in the direction of their common room, "Sorry to break up this flirting session Rose, but we gotta fly." Al said, and before either Scorpius or Rose could protest, he grabbed his friend and ran down the hall. Rose simply rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the Hufflepuff entrance. The team began walking out dejectedly about thirty seconds later, talking over strategy and what could be done better the next time. THe team trailed past Rose with not much of a second though besides her cousins her gave her a quick smile, but otherwise, Rose was largely ignored. It was true, the Hufflepuffs did not really like her as much since her blowout with Marcie. It wasn't anything obvious, it was more just a bit of discomfort that was in the air whenever Rose was around Hufflepuffs - they were loyal to the end with their friends. Marcie Scamander came out last, looking definitely dejected, her hand gripping her broom tightly. She almost didn't see Rose in the shadows.

"Uh, Marcie?" Rose called out timidly. Marcie whipped around, her eyes slightly red and her short hair windswept from her time out in the pitch. The part of her arm between her glove and sleeves was slightly bruised, giving Rose's stomach a quick lurch.

"What do you want, Weasley?" She barked. Rose flinched, not realizing how hard this would be, to swallow her pride and face her friend face to face, but she forged ahead.

"I made this for you. Like always." Rose thrust out her dessert. Marcie's sharp facial features softened.

"Thanks. I could use a bit of a pick me up." She laughed half heartedly. The blonde closed the palpable distance between her and Rose and reach out to take the plate from her extended arm. That is, until she noticed the burn. Marcie recoiled as if she had been slapped, and when she came in again, her strong hand closed around Rose's wrist, yanking it out for inspection.

"Careful!" Rose yelped, uncomfortable under Marcie's scrutiny, "This took like five years to make." Marcie smiled, and put the plate of delicious looking food behind Rose on a niche.

"What is this?" Marcie asked coldly. "Don't tell me you've moved on to wrists since . . . " She didn't finish her sentence. _Since we've been fighting_. Rose shook her head.

"No. That was an accident. In the kitchen." She said shortly. She didn't really want to be reminded that she was actually fighting with her best friend. Marcie sighed and picked up the plate again before crushing Rose into a hug.

"I thought it wasn't. But for a moment there, I was worried . . ." She trailed off pulled Rose out of the hug and taking Rose's small hand in her unoccupied gloved one.

"Come on, let's go. We'll get out to the Hospital Wing. I can eat this up here."

At the party that was going on in the Slytherin common room, everyone was invited, even the Hufflepuffs - though they were quite the downers at the party, as the losers always were. But it's safe to say that everyone breathed a bit of a sigh of relief when word came around that Rose and Marcie were seen walking as friends in the corridors of Hogwarts.

 **That's about it! PLEASE REVIEW because I spent my afternoon writing this instead of my homework, and if that doesn't show devotion, idk what will. Until next time,**

 **~RestisRustandStardust**

* * *

 **Posted: 6/2/16**


	9. In Which Marcie Takes the Stage

**A/N: And we're back! Hello my sexy little readers! I am incredibly sleep deprived as I am coming out of finals right now, so pardon my informality. So! I have been reading around a little bit, and I just realized how terribly, terribly clichéd my story is. Like I knew it was incredibly cliché (especially because I like a lot of the clichés so sue me), but it is bad. So I'm planning on jazzing up the plot a little bit. Okay, when I say a little bit, I mean a lotta bit. Some of my plot points might seem a bit random, but I promise I know where I'm going with this! Also, this chapter's gonna be a bit different: Marcie's POV! This is something that I'm trying out just for now, so tell me if you like it, and I'll continue, or if you don't, and I won't!**

 **Brief summary of last chapter in case anyone didn't read it for trigger reasons: Rose, ever the quidditch fanatic, was trying to study while she could hear the sounds of the first quidditch game on the season going on outside her window. Not wanting to go into the stands because she and Marcie hadn't made up yet, she decided to try and remedy things between her and her ex-friend. Rose did what was a tradition for her and Marcie, which was for Rose to make Marcie something in the kitchen for her friend after Marcie's match. After a brief encounter with Albus and Scorpius, Rose delivered her cake to Marcie, who, after seeing a burn mark (kitchen accident) on Rose's arm, makes up with Rose and the two begin to walk to the hospital wing.**

 **We also learn that Rose used to self harm, her tipping point when the _Daily Prophet_ wrote a confidence degrading article about her. Rose was able to stop cutting with help of Marcie (the only friend she ever told about her issue), her family, and Muggle psychologists.**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"Come on, let's go. We'll get out to the Hospital Wing. I can eat this up here."_

 _At the party that was going on in the Slytherin common room, everyone was invited, even the Hufflepuffs - though they were quite the downers at the party, as the losers always were. But it's safe to say that everyone breathed a bit of a sigh of relief when word came around that Rose and Marcie were seen walking as friends in the corridors of Hogwarts._

* * *

 **Marcie's POV**

Marcie missed this. Laughing with Rose. Swinging their intertwined hands in friendship while they would walk down the halls. The two had been fighting for three weeks. Three weeks of their lives that they lost together because of Rose's jealousy and Marcie's pettiness. The Scamander promised herself to never let something as stupid as an award get between them again.

Marcie had honestly been worried that when she and Rose reconciled, it would be awkward, but it was as if the two had never been apart. The two girls chattered easily to each other, about everything and nothing. Marcie could tell that Rose was purposely avoiding the subject of the burn mark, and made a note to bring that up later.

"So, how was the game, _really_?" Rose asked.

"Well, y'know, Hufflepuff _lost_." Marcie grumbled. She had had a Bludger when she saw the two Seekers streaking across the pitch. She knew that she could have hit Malfoy with a clean shot. Yet somehow, her aim missed. It went a few yards wide before Scorpius closed his hand around the golden blur seconds later. Marcie told herself that it was simply because she was still a bit rusty, since it was the beginning of the school year, but something within her knew that that wasn't the case - she was Marcie fucking Scamander, and Marcie fucking Scamander never missed that important of a shot.

"I know _that_ , I mean, Scorpius and my asshole cousin were basically flouncing it around in front of me. But how was it for _you_?" the redhead countered with a grin.

"Well, all I can say is that we definitely underestimated the Slytherin B team, and that we did not put enough time into training _our_ B team. I personally think our A squad is better, but we tired too quickly and we didn't have good enough replacements. I missed a couple important shots, but what can you do?" Marcie shrugged, hit yet again with remorse of the fight. Yvonne was a great friend, but Marcie knew that she couldn't talk quidditch with her. Marcie took her finger and scooped off a bit of the whipped cream on the edge of the plate.

"I gotta say, I definitely missed _this_ over the summer." Marcie said with a slight moan. Rose was an amazing baker.

"Guess what type of cake," Rose said with a little sparkle in her eye. Marcie just looked at the redhead.

"You didn't," the blonde deadpanned, desperately trying to not get her hopes up.

"I did." Rose laughed.

"I love you so much right now." Marcie said, her stomach grumbling at the very thought of eating Rose's homemade lava cake - her favorite of all the desserts. Looking back down at the plate, Marcie noticed a finger scoop had been taken out of the ice cream.

"I see you got a little hungry while making this!" Marcie teased, not caring at all that Rose had taken a bite of the ice cream. Rose could have had the whole plate of dessert and Marcie wouldn't have cared. She was just too happy to have her friend back. Rose just made a face and groaned,

"Merlin, I'm sorry about that. When Scorpius came over, he took some fucking ice cream. I mean who does that? It's just rude!" Rose began her rant about the pale haired boy, "He flaunts around like he has everything and is the best at everything, and he can actually back that up, which makes it even worse!" Rose lowered her voice, "And I heard from that Ravenclaw, Cassidy Ji, that the little shit has been shagging _Melora Goldstein_ left and right for weeks! I mean, come on, have _some_ class, won't you Malfoy?"

"Hmm, oh really?" Marcie hummed, despite already knowing this information - another reason not to fuck with Marcie, she knew everything about everyone. It wasn't like she was a particular gossip (quite the contrary, she really couldn't care less about other's business, she left such activities to Derek and Rose). Marcie could probably figure out all of your secrets, in addition to all of those of your long dead hamster's, just by looking at your face. The girl was particularly good at reading people There was also a particular quality about Marcie that made people find her trustworthy - they felt like they could tell the girl with any secret. Perhaps that is why Rose and Marcie were immediately attracted to each other in their first year; Rose was a naturally withdrawn person, and Marcie seemed like a likable, trustworthy girl right away. Marcie respected everyone's confidentiality, never telling anyone someone else's secret, but everyone knew the Hufflepuff knew everything about everyone. Anyways, Malfoy a manwhore or not, Marcie pretended like she did not know this information - Rose was always so excited when she thought she knew a secret from Marcie, and so the Hufflepuff didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise.

"Yeah, can you believe it? Such an asshole, I pity you for having to partner with him in Potions." Rose huffed. Marcie sighed - Scorpius really wasn't a bad guy. After her crazy obnoxious side wore off with her anger at Rose (and yes, Marcie was humble enough to realize that she was acting like a fricking psycho), the two had actually become decent enough friends. While before, the two had an uneasy alliance, they actually began to talk. Malfoy was smart and mature enough, and he was actually pretty funny. But Marcie knew Rose didn't care about that. But again, the Hufflepuff had her own suspicions about the level of hatred Rose still held for Scorpius. Chalk it up to Marcie's über perception abilities, or simply the fact that the two girls had been friends for seven years, but she could tell that in the past few weeks, Rose's heart simply wasn't in the fight. And neither was Scorpius'.

"You know, Scorpius really isn't that awful of a guy . . ." Marcie started hesitantly. Rose just snorted.

"Yeah right. But enough about that prick, what's new with you? Do you have _any_ idea what you're going to be doing after graduation?" She asked, her voice stern.

"Leave it to Rose to turn a gossip session into a conversation about jobs," Marcie laughed.

"C'mon, I'm basically your substitute mother at school, it is my job to ride your ass about these things!" Rose chuckled, jostling her shoulder against Marcie's.

"Careful!" Marcie gasped, the plate slipping in her hand. Once she got it steady she turned a murderous gaze on her friend, "If that fell, I don't care if you made it for me, I swear I would personally disembowel you before your own eyes." Rose just stuck her tongue out at the girl's anger. Marcie's scowl morphed into a smile before she continued.

"I have an idea now at least," Marcie said as the pair reached the doors to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey, wrinkled and bent a bit with old age, but still spry and quick as she had been twenty years prior, opened the heavy doors before either girl had the chance to knock.

"Miss Scamander, not a Quidditch injury, I hope?" The wizened witch asked shortly, eyeing Marcie's Quidditch robes and her broom. Madam Pomfrey had made her views on Quidditch quite clear over the years. But she still felt the need to express them at the moment. "A right nasty sport if you ask me. But nobody does, do they? And who do they come running to when they break their neck from a rogue bludger smacking them off their broom? That's right, me! Well one day soon, I won't be around to fix all your bloody broken necks!"

"Always a delight, Poppy." Marcie smiled cheekily, used to the Nurse's rant. The Hufflepuff had been to the infirmary more times than she could count, and she liked to think that the two of them were close. Almost as if she was trying to give the old witch a heat attack, she began eating her cake right there, blatantly disregarding Madam Pomfrey's rule of no unauthorized food in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was not amused. Rose shot her friend a look, still secretly incredulous at the way the girl had no fear of authority - how could she just be so casual with a staff member?

"Erm, sorry Madam Pomfrey, it's my arm. I accidentally burned myself when I was baking in the kitchens." Rose tried to avert the attention from her friend. Madam Pomfrey's gaze softened a fraction as she led the Weasley to one of the hospital beds.

"Stay there, I'll be back with some cream." And with that, the nurse had whisked away to one of the many store rooms of various medicinal herbs and potions. She didn't much care for Rose either, due to her frequent, and in her opinion, extremely unnecessary, confrontations with Scorpius Malfoy that landed both of them in the Hospital Wing with various injuries that were as complicated to cure as the spells were that caused them.

"So you were saying?" Rose turned her attention back to Marcie. Her legs were swinging back and forth on the side of the tall bed, too short for her feet to rest comfortably on the bed. It gave the normally very mature-looking Rose a childish, youthful quality. "About your job idea?"

"Oh, er, right. That." Marcie said. She realized that this was probably what the two fought about. Marcie wasn't inherently comfortable with sharing anymore than a sarcastic joke, and Rose was the type to try and fill silence. Since Rose was comfortable talking about herself to Marcie, most of the conversations just ended up being about her naturally. It really was the fault of both of them. Marcie was determined to change that about herself.

"So you know how there aren't a lot of mental health health in the wizarding world when you were having some, um, issues? I was thinking about doing something in maybe that field?" Marcie said uncomfortably, rushing on, "I mean since there isn't a lot jobs open in that field yet, I would start in Brain Healing, and go from there. Y'know I just want to be able to help people like that-"

Rose launched herself off the hospital bed and threw her arms around Marcie.

"Thank you," she whispered, "Thank you, thank you thank you." The two remained hugging until they heard a throat clearing.

"Sorry, Poppy. She's all yours." Marcie recovered quickly and stepping aside. Madam Pomfrey just rolled her eyes and got to work on Rose's arm. Within half a minute, the burn had disappeared.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!" Rose said, jumping off the bed, practically bowing at the woman. Marcie knew that Rose had issues with teachers, or really people in general, disliking her ( _It's not like I need their approval to get on with life, but I mean, what's not to like?_ Rose once replied to Marcie asking about this quality). Marcie just grinned and threw her arm around the old nurse's shoulders.

"Ah Poppy, it has truly been too long. Let's not wait until the next Quidditch match to see each other, eh?" Marcie chuckled.

"Oh, you girls will be the death of me!" Madam Pomfrey scolded, shooing the friends out of her Hospital Wing, Marcie chuckling the whole way. When the doors thunked close behind them, Rose turned on her friend, finally letting her laugh out.

"Seriously, Marcie? You better stop pissing off Madam Pomfrey. If you really want to become a Healer, you're going to need a letter of recommendation from her _and_ Babbit, at the very least! You have _got_ to stop pissing off teachers!"

"Ah, my young, naïve Rosie-pumpkin-cuddles. My bonds with Poppy and Babbit are very deep, I have no worry about that!" Marcie smiled, "Anyways, enough about _me_ , what about _you_? I know that the Auror applications are due in two weeks." Rose's face fell.

"Oh yeah. About that."

"What is it?" Marcie asked confusedly, pulling her aside to a niche in the hallway. Rose had wanted to be a Healer-Auror as long as the two had been friends.

"I don't know, I guess I just don't think I could really fit in."

"How so?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm not very physically coordinated and I feel like I'm not very good with people anymore. And even on the crazy, off chance that I got accepted into the most renowned Auror program in the Northern Hemisphere, people would probably think that I just got the opportunity because of my family. I want get places in this world because of my own merit, not from resting on my parents' laurels." Rose let this all out with one breath, her shoulders dropping as if the strings holding them up were suddenly snapped.

"Bullshit."

"What?" Rose looked up hesitantly.

"I said 'Bullshit'! You want to know why? You're Rose Weasley. A) so what if you're not physically coordinated? That's what the Trainee program is for - getting better at the things you suck at. B) where the hell is the 'I'm not good with people' bit coming from? I think that even Frigid McPomfreykins is warming up to your charm. C) there is no 'if' you get into the program. You're literally "la crème de la crème" of Hogwarts. D) yeah, some people might think that, but in about ten years, after you save the world, no one will think that again. So pull your shit together, Weasley, and send that bloody form in already." Marcie knew that it was harsh, but she also knew that that was what Rose needed to hear at the moment. Rose drew in a deep, shuddering breath, squared her shoulders and looked smirkingly into Marcie's eyes.

"'Crème de la crème?'" She jibed.

"Too much time with Amoury, I tell you." Marcie smiled. Rose was back.

"You can finish that in my room - I'll let you shower and you can charm some of my clothes so you can head out to the party in the Slytherin dorms to be the killjoy loser team."

"Your dorm is on the other side of the castle! It would be fast to go to Hufflepuff dorms." Marcie protested. Rose just raised a jokingly haughty eyebrow as she dramatically moved the tapestry she was leaning against, revealing a doorway. Marie just rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics and ducked into the short passageway.

"Y'know, at times like this, I'm glad that I'm short." Rose said cheekily behind her.

"Oh, fuck off." Marcie scoffed and pushed her laughing friend into some cobwebs in the corner. The two emerged across the hall from Berutherford from behind a vase.

"Okay, I'll admit, that was cool," Marcie said after reorienting herself. Rose rolled her eyes and opened her chambers. The two walked into the "Great Room".

"Okay, first, _shower_. You smell like Hugo after he eats tacos - don't stick your tongue out at me, you know you smell like shite - I have some clothes that I'll lay out for you." Marcie just nodded, racing up the stairs to the warm shower. She really did stink.

;;;

Emerging from the showers with a towels wrapped around her body and her head, Marcie spotted the clothes Rose laid out for her. Classy, but subtly showing off some cleavage. Marcie just held the clothes up to Rose, who was sitting at an armchair reading a book, with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't act like these parties aren't the hook-up hotspot. Especially the first-game after party." Rose said, barely glancing up from her enormous book.

"True," Marcie frowned, "But aren't you coming, Rose?" Rose shook her head.

"Nah, I still have to figure out Theoretical Potions." Rose said, gesturing slightly to her book.

"Yeah, uh, no. You're coming tonight. It's Friday, that assignment isn't due until next Wednesday, and you haven't been to a party since the beginning of the year." Marcie said, ignoring Rose's weak protests.

"Oh, all right. But you get changed, go downstairs, then I'll change. I have a new dress that I wanted to try and I want you to judge on first sight." Rose said, settling back into the chair. Marcie just rolled her eyes and walked back to the bathroom with her clothes.

She had lent this dress to Rose sometimes over the summer. It was a thick strapped black dress that cinched around the torso then fanned out dramatically two around her knees. When the skirt swished, gold air shimmered off of the ends, matching the bold, Victorian style gold detailing around the bodice. Marcie strapped on her pair of signature black combat boots and cursed. She forgot that she needed her nice Quidditch robes.

It became a tradition at inter-house quidditch after parties that everyone dressed up a bit, and the teams that had been playing that day wore their dress quidditch robes over their clothes. The time between the game and the party lengthened slightly, and there was less focus on congratulating the actual winning team, but it was more of a show of inter-house unity and sportsmanship, where everyone was invited and encouraged to go to the House that won's dormitories to celebrate. Also, they seemed (emphasis on _seemed_ ) to be more civilized than the old, rowdy house parties, and were less likely to be broken up by a professor. But alas, Marcie had forgot her dress robes in her room.

"Hey, Rose, I'm going to need to go back to the Huff-" She was cut off by a wad of gold and black fabric being thrown at her.

"I summoned an extra set for you." Rose said.

"You're the best." Marcie winked before closing the bathroom door again. She studies her complete appearance before walking back out to Rose.

"Yeah, I look good enough to make out with right?" Rose peered over the top of her book.

"Not that I'm the greatest judge, but yeah, if I were a horny teenage guy, I'd totally make out with you." Marcie blew a kiss at Rose and walked down the stairs.

"You're turn!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Oh fuck. Fine, I'll be five minutes." Rose said, shutting the door to the top of the stairs. Marcie waited by the kitchen for a bit, finishing her lava cake - which was absolutely heavenly, still warm and cold in all the right places despite the length of time it had been since its creation. Getting bored very quickly, Marcie decided to pick out a book form Rose's library for later. Opening the door, Marcie was surprised to see nothing but a dark passageway, with a few pieces of crumpled paper lying at her feet. She picked the pieces of paper up, read them quickly, her face turning white.

"Marcie? How do I look? Be honest!" Rose said, climbing down the stairs, ripping Marcie from the papers in front of her. The Hufflepuff stuffed the writing into the side of her boot for later inspection.

"Marcie - are you okay?" Rose asked, looking uncertainly down at her outfit, "Is it that bad?"

"No, not at all," Marcie said, clearing her face of any sign of shock. She wasn't lying. Rose's dress was fairly loose, more like a sundress, patterend with red and gold stripes. She had fixed hair into a messy ponytail, giving the look as if she was just carelessly perfect. Marcie grinned, knowing that they both looked hella awesome.

"Let's go knock 'em dead."

And with that, the two girls walked out of Rose's dorms, with a broomstick in Marcie's hand and a Head Girl badge pinned on Rose's bodice. Oh, and Berutherford may or may not have been looking at their asses as they walked away.

 **A/N: Aaaaand scene. I won't lie, this chapter took a sort of different turn as I was writing, and I decided that since it was so long, I'm going to split it into two chapters again. My last final is tomorrow, and it's English so it will be easy, so hopefully I will post more often over the summer! I'm going away this weekend, but we'll see ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.** **turn Let me know how you liked this chapter being 3rd person omniscient for Marcie instead of Rose or Scorpius. I wanted to try something new! As always, favorite, follow and review!**

 **Peace out, girl scouts ~RestisRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 6/21/16**


	10. In Which an Oil Painting Talks Magic

**A/N: Eep. I know. I'm really late. But I promise, this week, I have like five chapters planned (for real! I have the basic plotlines for them actually written down on paper, not just ideas floating around my head), so let's hope I don't get writer's block and can chug out a few more before my camp starts in a week. Introducing Chapter 10: "In Which an Oil Painting Talks Magic"!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"Let's go knock 'em dead."_

 _And with that, the two girls walked out of Rose's dorms, with a broomstick in Marcie's hand and a Head Girl badge pinned on Rose's bodice. Oh, and Berutherford may or may not have been looking at their asses as they walked away._

* * *

 **Marcie POV**

 _Oh bloody hell Malfoy. You are sure one for timing_. Marcie cursed silently. She really didn't want to confront him about it. She really didn't. But she had to - Rose was her best friend, and Marcie was required to figure out what was going on.

Marcie and Rose were standing in front of the stone wall, the a small piece of paper tacked into the mortar. On it, the password was written, as was custom for the post-quidditch match party hosts.

"Suck it, Hufflebitches," Rose muttered the password, casting an apologetic look at Marcie, "Sorry. I had to." Marcie just shrugged and gave a little grin.

"Eh, not your fault. When Hufflepuff crushes Slytherin in the next match, we'll be sure to make our password worse."

"I don't doubt that," Rose laughed as the stone wall creaked open. Loud music and the faint but distinct scent of firewhiskey hit the girls full force. Inside, all the couches had been pushed to the side, leaving a large dance floor open. The Mugwumping Kneazles, a student band primarily made up of Gryffindors played rock music with a deep, thrumming beat that drew both Marcie and Rose towards the dance floor. The students were all fifth year and above - the younger students weren't allowed in because of the often-spiked punch and occasional couple making out in the corner - any student under the age of fifteen had been sent up to their dorms by their house prefect before the party had even started. The professors were pretty relaxed about the whole affair as long as no third years showed up at Madam Pomfrey's to get their stomachs pumped. The Hufflepuffs hung back on the couches, looking rather put out, but the rest of the student body was dancing. Marcie loved these parties - throwing her head back into the air, dancing and singing along with the band's covers of popular songs. But she just shook her head slightly and gripped her broom a bit tighter. She had a job to do.

"Look, Derek and Linda!" Rose shouted over the music, pointing to the reluctant girl being dragged by their pink-haired friend through the crowds. Rose tugged on Marcie's hand, but Marcie shrugged it away.

"I'm going to try and find Yvonne, " Marcie lied. Rose just shrugged and began to make her way through the crowds to their friends. Marcie ducked behind the stone pillars, behind the couches and skirting the fringe of the party that consisted of mostly couples making out and the weirdos. The corners were illuminated with a green light that came from the huge glass wall looking into the lake. Marcie assumed that she could find Scorpius with Melora or someone, celebrating his Marcie just shivered. _Nasty_ _. For the love of Flamel's flaming gold balls, where the hell are you Malfoy?_ She gripped her broom a bit closer, an instinct that she developed since she was three and got on her first broom. Her broom was a Comet 310, an older model that had belonged to her aunt Luna right after the second war. The finely made handle was scratched, and in need of a polish after that Quidditch match. The twigs were slightly bent, but the model had good balance and barely needed maintenance. Then it struck her. Marcie slinked between the columns, cast one last look at the Giant Squid (who, Marcie would later swear, winked at her as she passed), and made her way out the door.

* * *

 _Oh my magical pegasus shit, what is the point of playing quidditch and doing athletic shit if I can't even climb these stairs,_ Marcie thought, gasping for air as she rounded the last turn on the staircase. She felt the stone began to creak underneath her.

"Oh fuck, not again, not again, not again," Marcie wheezed as she booked it up the last flight.

"No, no, no, no, no - YES!" Marcie jumped over the past two stairs and landed on her stomach on the now-balcony.

"Merlin's beard," Marcie groaned, pulling herself up. She looked at her broom - the top of the broom had splinters coming off of it. _Dear lord_ , Marcie thought, _Oh well, I can just get Malfoy to fix it_. Marcie brushed herself off, ignored the rip in her dress, checked to make sure the sweat-infused piece of paper was still in her pocket, and took off down the corridor. Marcie stopped in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, wheezing.

 _I need someplace to clean my broom. I need someplace to clean my broom. I need someplace to clean my broom._ A huge, heavy, wooden door appeared across the hallway. Marcie groaned again, her muscles screaming in protest as she made her way across the hallway.

"Blasted doxy shit!" She pulled the heavy door open and shut it behind her with a slam.

"Fancy seeing you here, Marce. Thought you'd be at the party." Scorpius said from his perch on the couch. He was still in his quidditch robes, his appearance still just wholly disarrayed from the match a few hours before. He was cleaning his broom with a rag with precision and care that only came with practice. It was a small room, one wall completely dominated by the door, the others were decorated with various framed newspaper clippings about Hogwarts Quidditch matches, shelves with Quidditch supplies, and Quidditch team posters. A single green couch was pushed up against the wall opposite to the door with a table with an extensive broom-cleaning kit unpacked all over it. Marcie marched in with a huff and threw herself down on the couch next to him, propping her feet up onto his lap. The two had become better friends because of their Potions partnership.

"I thought _you'd_ be there, Flyboy. I walked in on Aria _Garrett_ and May Chittenden making out in the Common Room looking for you! Even _I_ didn't see that coming!" Marcie complained, getting her breath again.

"Are you serious? Ever since they were put together as potion partners, you could tell they were eye-fucking each other for months," Scorpius took a sip of Muggle whiskey from his shot glass, "Honestly, it was probably the most uncomfortable experience I have ever had as a third party. That is, besides when you and Rose were having that ridiculous fight. By the way, heard you two made up. Take my advice?"

"I suppose so. But speaking of Rose," Marcie threw the piece of paper in her pocket onto the table in front of them, "What the hell is this?" Scorpius picked up the paper, and, upon reading it, paled.

 _The rose builds up walls and_ _hides behind them,_

 _By herself she'll be._

 _She then breaks down and tends her wounds,_

 _Not knowing the scorpion can see._

 _To him, the walls are made of glass,_

 _He's constantly in pain._

 _Breaking the walls between the two_

 _Would be an effort made in vain._

 _So he has to watch her put on a brave face,_

 _Close up her petals to the world,_

 _Then lock herself in a glass cage,_

 _And watch her torment unfurl._

 _The rose and scorpion aren't so different,_

 _Their dreams are both unrealized._

 _Both so close, and yet so far,_

 _Their relationship undefined._

"I have no clue what you're talking about. I've never seen this before in my life," Scorpius said with a cold indifference, crumpling the paper and throwing it on to the table.

"Cut the bullshit, Flyboy. I recognize that pretentious cursive," Marcie grabbed the note and smoothed it out, "I just never thought you could be so cliché. A _rose_? And a _scorpion_? I mean, come _on_. I could completely ship you two, but pining away silently with a cliché _poem_? I feel like I need to help you on how to talk to girls, and _that_ is an ability I never thought I would need to teach you."

"A) You're way off this time, for someone who supposedly knows everything about everyone, B) last time I checked, your latest relationship with Lily Potter ended with an explosive argument three weeks ago. And then your relationship with Kennedy Fortescue a week before that. You don't exactly have a good track record, both guys and girls." Scorpius continued to clean his broom in a blasé manner.

"Low blow, Malfoy," Marcie said, unaffected by his comments, "But irrelevant. Any of my personal shortcomings do not detract from this." Marcie pointed again at the crumpled piece of paper lying on the table between them. Scorpius' face had lost any trace of its friendly, carefree demeanor he had when Marcie had first come into his broom cleaning room.

"Scamander, I have never seen that piece of paper in my life," Scorpius stood up, leaving his broom and kit splayed all over the couch and table, and he grimanced, "Nor have I ever had any _personal_ affections for Weasel. I suggest you drop this. I am perfectly fine with having fun with you, because you are a great person, but if you continue to make these ridiculous claims, I think that we should limit ourselves to being just Potions partners."

"Is that how you treat your friends, Flyboy?" Marcie said, not moving from her position on the couch, "Because I think you're fun. I enjoy my time with you. But if this is how you treat Al , Rocco and Fred - don't worry I haven't told Rose about that, stop making that face - then I guess you're an asshole. And I'm not friends with assholes, thank you very much." Scorpius ran a hand down his face, looking incredibly tired. Marcie tugged on his leather arm guard, prompting him to sit back down.

"I'm sorry. It's just - I don't need this right now. I really just can't. I have too much on my plate right now, with quidditch, and job interviews, and head boy matters just beginning to ramp up, and I can't worry about false claims about me and _Weasley_ of all people going around. I'm sorry, Marce." Marcie rubbed a comforting hand down his back.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insinuate anything. I'll drop it - I don't believe it was you, anyways. Just trying a to get a rise out of you." Marcie laughed half-heartedly. The two sat in a silence for a little bit - whether it was awkward or friendly, neither could really tell.

"So issues with job applications?" Marcie asked, trying to break the silence. Scorpius leaned back, running his hand again down his face. Marcie picked up that this was a sort of nervous tic for him - whenever he felt uncomfortable in a situation, Scorpius would cover his face with his hand, tie, quill, really whatever was on hand.

"Oh, yeah. Listen, don't tell anyone, because I havent even told Fred, and he is my best friend, but I just really need to unload this . . ." Scorpius began, trailing off.

"Yes?" Marcie prompted gently, bumping her knee into his.

"Its just, over the summer, I finally figured out what I want to do. I want to be an Auror - oh don't give me that look ya lil shit, you know that I was at least interested before I told you, you know everything - or at the very least a writer. But that poem does not have anything to do with me," Scorpius cut himself off sharply, realizing he almost fell into a trap.

"Naturally. Please continue," Marcie dismissed his claim with a wave of her hand. She'd get him to admit his involvement at another time.

"Okay, well, I told my father right before I was going to leave for Hogwarts this year. He was really supportive - or he acted like it. He later sent me some pretty . . . nasty letters telling me how much he supported my decision."

"Let me guess - he didn't."

"Bingo. Look, I know that if I followed through with what I really want to do with my life, my father wouldn't say another word. He would go along with whatever I wanted to do, because he loves me. But it would kill him. It would _kill_ him to know his only son doesn't want to work with him in the family trust fund, because it's all he has ever dreamed of for me. A simple life, where none of my peers can ridicule me for being a Malfoy because it would be just me and him together. He just wants to protect me. But he can get angry. He has issues with controlling himself after the war - his PTSD of feeling things go beyond his control is too much sometimes. He just can't help himself, and I don't blame him. But I want to become an Auror so bad . . . why am I even talking about all this to you?" Scorpius trailed off with a mirthless, halfhearted chuckle, not meeting Marcie's eyes.

"Because I'm a frickin awesome listener," Marcie said, taking Scorpius' hand in hers. The two sat in silence for a bit longer, fingers interlocked.

"Ok, go to the party," Marcie said suddenly, pushing Scorpius off the couch, "I know you want to. Go! You can clean my broom later." Marcie smiled at him. Scorpius' exhausted manner slipped away in place for his trademark smirk.

"Thanks. I might find Melora and loosen up a bit, if you aren't up for anything . . ." Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

"Oh bugger off, git. Have fun, but no funny business!"

"Salazar's boxers, 'funny business'? Are you my _mother_?" Scorpius laughed. A real laugh, not a snicker. It was one of the first things that struck Marcie when she became friends with Scorpius - he was a genuine person behind all that sarcasm. He was real - not just the plethora of aloofness and aristocracy that he portrayed.

"Oh, just go." Marcie gave a small smile. Scorpius stretched and tore off his arm and knee guards.

"You're not going to join me?" He asked, halfway out the door.

"Nah, not my scene. I think I'll just hang here a bit." Marcie said, relaxing back into the couch.

"All right then. See you in Potions, Marce." Scorpius called over his shoulder, his words almost lost in the slamming of the door.

"See you later, Flyboy."

"Well that went well."

"Wha-AAAHHH!" Marcie flew out of her chair, much the the obvious amusement of the old man in the small painting by her head.

"I must say, that was not as smooth a confrontation as I had hoped for, but it was a start nonetheless Miss Scamander!"

"Holy speedo of Dumble-" Marcie began, her eyes wide.

"-dore, yes that's me, Miss Scamander! Though I must say, I have never had a muggle, what did you call it, speedo?" The old man in the portrait had blue eyes that twinkled behind his half moon glasses - Marcie was willing to bet her wand and fifteen galleons that he knew _exactly_ what a speedo was.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm - uh, wow, I mean, what?" Marcie sputtered, completely confused as to what the hell was going on. The former professor laughed good naturedly.

"Ah, Miss Scamander - may I call you Marcie? - Marcie, let me explain this all to you. Be before I do, how about you sit down right there - right there, good girl. Are you comfortable? All right then. Shall we begin?"

-~/~-~/~-~/~-

"Magic is a complicated thing, Marcie. I had spent the better portion of my life dedicated to the exploration of magic, and I do not mean to, how do the children say it these days, toot my own horn, but I _was_ a rather good wizard when I was alive, and even in my one hundred and fifteen years that I dedicated to studying magic, I came nowhere close to understanding it. Its eccentricities, its quirks, the flow and fiber of magic - it is held in balance by a complicated, beautiful, and above all, dangerous dance that can, nor should, not be disturbed.

But what I did find out about magic was that it was passionate. And yes, I speak of it like its a living creature. That is because in a way, it is. Magic manifests in passion, and light magic manifests in love. Not necessarily love between two partners, but platonic, familial love. Dark magic is indeed a powerful instrument, and requires a passion, like all magic. But because dark magic is fueled by evil passion, anger, and suffering, it eats at the very essence of the soul. Magic is not a force to be ruled and beaten down - it can only be harnessed, used in a symbiotic relationship with the person who wields the ability to grasp and see its links. Because wickedness is a baseless concept, a fire that burns brightly that ultimately has little fuel, magic can not be supported for an extended length of time. Because of this, Dark magic erodes the soul and mind of the user.

However, passion in light magic is based off of love - love for a friend, family member, or partner. That love is so pure, so longstanding, light magic stays powerful and tapping into that resevoir of love long after Dark magic has shriveled and died. That is not to say light magic would always prevail in a battle, but it to say that it will win the war.

I discovered this fairly early in my life, I would say sometime in the fifties. So I did what I did best - I taught. For the next forty years that I was alive and was headmaster of Hogwarts, I did my best to teach every student who made their way through the halls of Hogwarts to love to their fullest capacity. Sometimes I failed - I am a wizard enough to admit that - but most often, I succeeded.

You see, the thing about light magic, to tends to already exist everywhere. Many times, when a friendship or relationship begins, it did not need my prompting. Light magic _likes_ to live - it flourishes easily and quickly, while Dark magic has to be pulled reluctantly into the fray.

As I was saying, most students found the passion, love, light magic, whatever one wishes to call it, themselves. However, sometimes they needed a push, and so I gave it to them. A few of my favorite examples include James and Lily Potter, as well as Hermione and Ron Weasley. It was quite interesting, actually. It was as if Hogwarts itself, the magic that ran through her stone buttresses and towers, the hotspot along the lines of magic converging, helped me. Hogwarts is a force of light magic herself. When I died, some of that light magic faded for a time. It is not to say that light magic needed my presence to exist, I simply was a conductor of it for so long, it simply needed some time to adapt and readjust. My life force and power was absorbed into the castle upon my death, and so I have been able to continue my work, even if I am slightly more restricted in my abilities.

Marcie, I have been able to see some incredible things in the past couple decades. I have had the privilege to see a Golden Era being ushered in by the last generation I mentored in the teachings of light magic. I got to see their children flourish. I got to see you, Marcie. Of the twenty some odd grand that have traipsed their way through the halls, you, in particular have caught my eye. You have a certain trait in you that I last saw so strongly in your aunt Luna. You both have the ability to understand people - you have extremely strong compassion and therefore your empathetic magic is particularly strong. It is in that branch of passion that light magic flourishes best. I have seen you with your friends. Derek, Yvonne, Linda, Amoury, Eleanor, Brock, Lee, and most recently, Mr. Malfoy, I can see that you have strong, passionate bonds with them. And Rose. Now that is a streak of light magic I haven't seen for twenty five years.

I have felt a great shift in the continuum of magic. A great increase of light magic has surged - I have felt its reckless passion streaking along these halls. But as I said before, magic is a dangerous, complicated balance. So where there is a rise in light magic, there is a rise in Dark magic. A peculiarity of light magic is that while it is strong, it can dwindle. When a passion goes unrealized or refused between two people, whether it would be intentional or not, the light magic dwindles.

So I suppose turning my lecture to focus more on its application to you and less of the nuances and science of magic itself, I need your help, Marcie Scamander. I am limited by the walls of this castle. You, however, are not. Your the exact type of witch I need for this task. Not only do you have an affinity for empathetic magic, you also have the necessary contacts.

I have felt a spark of passion between two people in this castle for the past seven years. The magic between them was neither dark nor light, more of a gray magic based off a petty hatred. I thought nothing of it then. But very recently, more in the past few months, I have seen it grow into something very strong. The passion there is volatile, and leaning towards light, but in the recklessness of such ardor, it can be turned to Dark magic. I need your help in the affair of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy."

-~/~-~/~-~/~-

Marcie just stared at the painting. The oils that made up Albus Dumbledore's face seemed to understand that she needed a minute to process.

"Um, all right. Just so I'm getting this all clear, you, _Albus Dumbledore_ , greatest wizard of the past three centuries, want _me_ to get Rosie and Flyboy to hook up?" Marcie asked.

"Well, I suppose I didn't think about it quite like _that,_ but yes, that is the general idea of the ramblings of crackpot old me." Dumbledore replied, his sunken blue eyes shining a bit.

"Well, I suppose I could give it a shot . . ." Marcie replied hesitantly.

"Excellent. You do not need to actively force the two together, but try to suggest hinting? Not that I am the best to say, I am an oil painting. I will leave the details up to you to decide." Dumbledore smiled through his beard, turning to leave his portrait.

"Wait!" Marcie exclaimed, causing the old wizard to stop and turn back around, "You're just going to jump in here, monologue for awhile, then leave me to clean up all the shit? That's professional." Marcie sort of snorted. She wouldn't remember until later (nor curse herself for her actions until then) that she had yelled at arguably the greatest wizard to ever walk the Earth's surface. Dumbledore gave an honestly sort of irritatingly calm smile and extended his hands in a placating gesture.

"Its all fine, Marcie. Trust yourself. Trust the castle. Trust, and it will guide you. Besides, I have been helping you all along. Who do you think put that poem in Rose' library? Or made sure it even ended up lost from Scorpius' room for that matter?" he asked before walking out of the small frame.

"What the bloody hell . . . ?" Marcie muttered, throwing a bottle of cleaning fluid in the general direction of the now empty painting while pacing.

 _"_ What the _hell_ did I get myself into?" Marcie finished her sentence under her breath as she finally stalked out of the Room of Requirement.

"Something great, my dear! Something great!" Albus Dumbledore called from another portrait in the hallway, either not noticing or caring - or both - that Marcie flipped him off as she made her way back to her dorms to sleep on what she had just learned.

 **A/N: Okay, high-key kind of liking how my Dumbeldore piece turned out. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing as I was writing, but I sort of kinda like it. Also, can I just say, I realized I had forty seven people following this story, and fifteen favorites. I don't think I can even list fifteen people in my grade who I like, let alone forty seven. So forgive my sappiness, but let me just take a moment to thank each and every one of you who reads this. Honestly, _thank you_. **

**How do you like bi-Marcie? I think it fits her character. Please tell me everything you thought about and more in the reviews, also follow/favorite! Hope to see y'all soon!**

 **~RestisRustandStardust**

 **(Okay, shoot me. I forgot to put this in when I posted :P)**

 **Posted: 7/5/16**


	11. In Which Ilvermorny Bleeds

**A/N: Ehhhhhh, my main reader hoes! Thanks for coming again, love y'all, how ya doin'? Okay fam, so 50 followers? Thank you all so much! Now can we get to 20 favorites, or maybe 20 reviews? Forgive the banality of that plea, but I believe we can do this. Thank you again, and I present to you Chapter 11: "In Which Ilvermorny Bleeds"**

 **Warnings: Mentions of shootings. All right, I'm going to try to not be political about it (though I totally could and would, but I know I do have some readers from out of the States so going into it would be a bit pointless for them), and have it just be a sad thing that actually happens. Nothing descriptive about it, just a short news article that barely describes the happening.**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _What the_ hell _did I get myself into?" Marcie finished her sentence under her breath as she finally stalked out of the Room of Requirement._

 _"Something great, my dear! Something great!" Albus Dumbledore called from another portrait in the hallway, either not noticing or caring - or both - that Marcie flipped him off as she made her way back to her dorms to sleep on what she had just learned._

 ***Gasp* Has it really been four chapters since I had a Scorpius POV? Well I guess it's time for one then!**

Scorpius was not a stalker. Or a creep. He might have been crazy, though Scorpius would have denied that as well.

But despite not being any of those things above, Scorpius could not stop staring across the Great Hall at a certain redhead during breakfast. Like, he physically could not tear himself away. Again, Scorpius would have claimed that he was not creepy or obvious in any way. But Fred certainly noticed.

"So, did you guys shag last night?" Fred asked casually through a large bite of sausage and beans. Scorpius, who was taking a sip of his coffee - black, as always - whilst staring "casually" at Rose, had an explosive spit take. After hacking up a lung along with the coffee that had slid down the wrong pipe , Scorpius turned a glare on to his best friend.

" _What_?" He asked incredulously. Fred, unaffected by Malfoy's terrifying glare, continued to shovel food down as his throat as he talked.

"Well, you've been making goo-goo eyes at Rose for the past-" he checked his watch - "nineteen minutes and fifty one seconds, haven't responded to anything that I've said, including my amazing (though admittedly fake) story of a gruesome cult murder I witnessed at age two, and you just poured orange juice on your bloody eggs."

"No I haven't!" Scorpius replied indignantly, trying to mop up his coffee-stained shirt.

"It's true, Scorpius. A couple minutes ago, I had to replace the knife with which you were trying to eat your cereal with a spoon." Rocco chimed in. Scorpius sighed and pushed back his plate of citrus-y scrambled eggs. Fred and Rocco continued to eat, knowing their friend would talk when he was ready.

"Look, its nothing. Just a weird dream." Scorpius said tiredly, "Probably just because I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before because of planning for the first Quidditch match."

"Oh god, please don't tell me you're having wet dreams about my cousin. I have to draw the line _somewhere_! I promise I was just joking about the whole shagging thing, mate!" Fred moaned, putting his face into plate.

"Bleh-ergh, _no_ you sick bastard!" Scorpius said, horrified at his friend, "No, it was nothing about Rose - it was, uh, Quidditch. I was just staring off into space." Fred (whose face was covered in gracy and bits of sausage) and Rocco looked as if they wanted to object, but just then Albus Potter had slid into seat next to Fred and across from Scorpius and Rocco.

"Did someone say Quidditch?" He said cheerfully while loading up his plate with pancakes, pancakes, and more pancakes.

"Ah yes, Scrotum Malfoy here was telling us about how he had an erotic dream about a sexy, pole dancing broomstick," Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows. Rocco and Al roared in laughter at the thought, while Scorpius glared at Fred.

"Oh you wanna go there with 'Scrotum', do you?" he said. Fred just put up his hands in a placating gesture while he laughed.

"No, I'm good, thanks."

"That's what I thought." This led into a deeply engaging conversation between Rocco and Al about the merits of a nickname based off of genitalia, and the number of different ones that the boys had come up for each other over years. Fred turned his attention on to Scorpius.

"Look mate, I don't know what's up with you, and that's weird, because I _always_ know what you're thinking. Seriously, what's up?" Fred stared at Scorpius, his brown eyes boring unnervingly into Scorpius'. The latter tried to play it off like he did with Marcie, feigning cold obtuseness.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just staring off into space. If I happened to be staring off into space in the direction of the Gryffindor table, then that is an unfortunate coincidence that my unsuspecting eyes were punished with." But Fred was not to be fooled.

"Look, Scrotum," Fred said, waving his fork-impaled sausage at Scorpius, "You don't have to tell me right now why you're staring like a creepy-ass stalker at my cousin. But believe me. I will find out, and when I do - " Fred was cut off by a gasp over at the Hufflepuff table. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at Fred, and the two, like most of the other Hogwarts students, gathered quickly around Kai Thomas, who was reading an article from the Daily Prophet that had just been flown in by an owl who was helping itself to a bowl of baked beans.

" _BREAKING NEWS: 12 DEAD and 16 WOUNDED due to American Wizardry School, Ilvermorny scene of MUGGLE-STYLE SHOOTING._

 _Not much is known about the situation so far, as it is still in development and being investigated by the Eastern North America Seaboard of Aurors. It seems as if a unnamed young man, reported to be in his twenties and his name still unknown, managed to buy a firearm in a Muggle city, and performed several Dark Magic enchantments upon the gun found in books that usually require a medium level clearance in the United Regions of American Magic government. He then proceeded to enter the school after the long weekend and fired several rounds into a an open door of a Potions classroom that had sixth years in it, then moved on to the nearby teacher's lounge and firing several times into that room, until finally completely entering a Charms classroom of second years and shooting a large amount of rounds until committing suicide by a bullet to the temple. It is unknown as to how the perpetrator gained access to the school and if he is part of a larger terrorist organization at this point of time. Here is the casualty list as far as the writers at the_ Daily Prophet _know it to be:_

 _Aaron Marks, Sixth Year, killed_

 _Camila Hidalgo, Sixth year, killed_

 _Mochni Moenkopi, Sixth year, wounded_

 _Samuel Grolin, Teacher, killed_

 _Motavato Nighthorse, Teacher, killed_

 _Cassiopeia Black, Second year, wounded_

 _Rashad Amal, Second year, killed_

 _Zachariah Reisen, Second year, wounded_

 _We will automatically update this article as we learn more developments. We send our condolences out to the families of the victims_ _._

Gasps arose from all of the students, and whispered conversations all began. The letters were constantly rearranging on the page, shifting down the parchment as updates appeared. Scorpius' face whitened, and he stumbled out of the hall as if he was suffocating. Fred followed him, concerned.

"Scorpius? What's wrong? I mean, I know this is really sad, but you seem to be taking it, uh, specifically hard." Scorpius continued to rush down the halls with his hand supporting his body on the wall, pushing past a bunch of younger students with a worried Weasley following close behind. Eventually Fred found that he and Scorpius ended up in a dead end hallway in the dungeons with Scorpius sitting a stone bench up against the wall.

"Scorpius. What the hell is going on." Fred said, his voice hard as he grabbed his friend's shoulder after sitting down next to Scorpius. The pale haired boy raised his head, slightly his eyes looking bloodshot and his nose suspiciously pink. He drew in a ragged breath.

"Cassiopeia Black, Fred. Tell me, who do you think that is," Scorpius said flatly. Fred paled.

"I thought you said she was being home schooled this year. And that's the wrong last name." He said dumbly, not wanting to believe it.

"I lied. My parents wanted me to say that instead of saying that she was going to Ilvermorny. I don't know why, so don't ask. Maybe it was a pride thing? I really don't know," Scorpius dragged in another wheezing breath, as if it hurt him to do so. "Fred. That's my _sister_. I'm her _big brother_ , and she was _shot_ , and I wasn't _there_ to protect her. Just like I couldn't protect her from the bullies last year, except now it's even worse because she could die." Scorpius clawed at his throat, pulling his tie away, as if it was choking him.

"Fred, she could be _dead_ , and I am 5000 kilometers away. I couldn't have done _anything_ to protect her. Oh Merlin forgive me, it's all my fault, oh Merlin . . ." Fred grabbed Scorpius' shoulder and straightened his friend up so they looked each other in the eyes. Scorpius' eyes were glassy and had a single tear tracking its way down his right cheek. Fred wanted to cry too, but he didn't. He didn't because his friend needed him.

"Scorpius. It is _not_ your fault. This is some crackpot git's fault who decided it would be a good idea to shoot kids. Your sister is _alive_ , and that's more than what some of the families of those students can say. Your parents are going to call you back, and you are going to see your sister. Until then, you have to be strong. I know you can do it. Now straighten up." Scorpius nodded, took a deep breath through his nose, and stood up.

"You're right. Thanks, Fred." Scorpius said tiredly, "If you don't mind though, I could use a few minutes alone." Fred nodded, squeezed his friend's shoulder one more time, and left Scorpius behind with a worried glance.

"Write me as soon as possible." He called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall.

"Of course." Scorpius said back so quietly, he wasn't sure if Fred heard. Either way, Fred continued down the dark hallway. As soon as Fred's brown hair had faded into the darkness of his vision, Scorpius fell back onto the stone bench. His thoughts were reeling, but he was trying to collect himself and start planning. _I have maybe another 20 minutes before Mum and Dad will come in through Hogsmeade. I have to pack, and get everything collected for classes . . ._ His semi-panicked thoughts were cut off by a familiar tingling in his right hand.

 _Is that Cassie?_ The sort of messy scrawl wrote itself across his hand. After fumbling around his bag for a few seconds, Scorpius produced his inkwell and ballpoint pen, and then set up a little writing station on the bench in front of him.

 _Yeah,_ he wrote back, _How'd you know?_ After a few seconds, his answer came.

 _Wasn't too hard to figure out. I mean, her full first name, the fact she didn't come back to Hogwarts, and the last name 'Black' sort of added together. And then you ran out of the Great Hall with your face even paler than it normally is._ Scorpius bristled after reading this.

 _Well, I think I'm sort of validated in freaking the hell out a bit._ The answer came back hurriedly, the writing slightly messier.

 _No, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. It was just a little strange to see the normally calm you crack. Don't worry, Ice King. I don't think anyone else noticed except me._ A pause, and that message was replaced by the following.

 _Do you need help packing?_ Scorpius took a moment to respond. He was counting on having the next twenty minutes to break down a bit, but he realized that having Rose there might actually be comforting.

 _Sure. Can you meet me outside of my dorms in five?_

 _I'll be there._

* * *

In no less than four and a half minutes later, both Rose and Scorpius were outside of his giggling kiwi portrait. If it had been any other moment, Scorpius would have made a sarcastic and probably suggestive comment to Rose, but he could barely whisper his password on the gentle prompting of Weasley, his throat hurt so bad. Once the portrait swung out, Rose grasped the doorknob and pulled the door out, gently putting a hand on Scorpius' back and guiding him through his parlor, past his kitchen, and up the stairs to his bedroom. Something he never dreamed - well, maybe he did, but that was besides the point - would happen. Normally, Scorpius might have been a bit embarrassed by his sort-of messy room (which wasn't even messy at all - Scorpius was a bit of a compulsive cleaner), but these were hardly normal circumstances. Scorpius was almost in a trance, still unable to do more than the normal human functions like nodding or raising his hand. Rose would gently prompt him, asking where his belongings were, and collected them herself as Scorpius himself sat in a motionless ball in the center of his bed.

"I can remember the first time I met your sister. She's gorgeous, and Merlin, does she have a brain - I don't know how you two come from the same gene pool. I TA'd a first year Transfiguration class, and I gotta say, she gave me a run for my money on know-it-all-ness. Where are your Muggle clothes?" Rose asked, nodding and moving towards the closet that Scorpius pointed to.

"But yeah, she's good," Rose said, folding the jeans and sweater on the bed (and deciding now was not a good time to poke fun at the fact that Malfoy had a Muggle sweater for girls), and continuing on to get some robes out of the open armoire, "Was able to turn a matchbox into a rabbit on only her eleventh try, and can I just say, that was a feat in of itself." Rose stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I'm not helping, am I?" Scorpius looked up, knowing that he probably looked (and sounded) like a little kid.

"No. Please continue." Scorpius said. He didn't know why, but hearing Rose talk so admiringly about his sister, it took his mind off the situation. His Cassie was still here at Hogwarts, excelling in her classes and impressing everyone. She was fine. She wasn't shot. She wasn't possibly dead. She was all right. Rose gave a little smile and continued on.

"She really reminded me of Hugo. They're both real quiet unless someone brings them out of their shell, and when they do, they are just the best, most sarcastic people you could know." Rose said, putting some undergarments into Scorpius' small duffel, along with the rest of the clothes that she had laid out on his bed. Scorpius took a deep breath.

"I haven't written her since the first week of school."

"Huh?" Rose asked, having barely heard Scorpius over her struggle to zip the duffel.

"I haven't written to her since the first week of school," Scorpius said louder, getting up off the bed, "I thought it was for the best. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and I didn't want her to have me as a crutch so she wouldn't have to talk to kids her age. She wrote me a couple more times in the few weeks that followed before she stopped, realizing I wasn't responding. Rose, she's my own fucking sister, and I stopped talking to her because I thought it would be "best" for her. She could have _died_ today, and I hadn't talked to her in a month and a half! I never talk about her, because it hurts to know she's that far away and I can't help her if she gets hurt, and look what happens: she gets hurt, and I haven't talked to her in forever! I mean how the everloving _fuck_ is wrong with me?" Scorpius' voice had risen from a growl to almost a yell. He had been walking towards Rose, not even realizing that she had been backing up until she had hit the armoire and had a hand on his chest to stop his advance. Scorpius hastily backed away, running a hand through his slightly overgrown hair.

"Oh bloody hell, I'm so sorry Rose. I didn't mean to yell." He moved so his back was against the opposite wall, trying not to meet her eyes.

"Scor," Rose said quietly, but with a surprising amount of force behind her words, "Look at me." When he did, he saw that her eyes, usually hard and leaning towards an icy hazel green whenever she looked at him, were a soft almost-brown, with a kindness behind them Scorpius had certainly never seen directed at him. Maybe at Hugo, possibly at Marcie and her other friends, but certainly not at him. Rose quickly crossed the room, and slid her arms in the space between his elbows and his torso, pulling him tight against her while standing on her tiptoes, her head just reaching his collarbone. Scorpius, after a moment of hesitation, bent at his shoulders slightly and wrapped one arm around Rose's waist and one around her shoulder and his chin resting on top of her head. This was a position they often adopted in their times together. They found it comforting, sometimes, just to hold someone and know that they were there and real. Scorpius could feel her heartbeat thrumming, a consistent thud against his chest.

"You're braver than you think, Scor," Rose said into the material of his shirt. She moved one of her arms so it was then over Scorpius' shoulder, and she pressed a hand against his neck. Scorpius almost froze at the intimacy of the pose, but decided that it was just comforting, and then bashed himself mentally for focusing on something like that when his sister was lying in a hospital bed, bleeding to death. His breath caught in his throat and pulled Rose a bit closer.

"You're braver than I would have ever been. If I got the news that Hugo . . ." Rose took a deep, shuddering breath, "I would have lost my shit. I probably would have gone insane, so Scor, you are incredibly strong."

"Y'know - y'know, it seems to help a bit," Scorpius said, his voice hoarse, "To talk about her."

"Hmm? Well, I suppose I have a question for you about her," Rose said, letting her hand run through the short hairs at the nape of his neck over and over again.

"Ask me anything."

"Well, I always wondered, uh, why? I know the Malfoy tradition is to have one son and then be done, no rhyme intended. Why another kid?" Rose asked. Scorpius smiled, rubbing circles into Rose's back. He loved telling this story.

"That's what my dad wanted, but my Mom has a sister and she loved having a sibling, so, after many-a-year, she finally convinced him to have another. And what do you know, a daughter! There hadn't been a blood daughter in the Malfoy family in like a hundred generations. So, when she was born, my parents asked me what we should name her. And mind you, I was six. So when they asked me that, I stood up to my proud height of a three and a half feet tall, and proclaimed that I wanted my darling baby sister to be names 'Poopy Toilet Butt Malfoy'. Needless to say, my vote was vetoed." Scorpius smiled into Rose's hair as she laughed.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. It's not as bad as me. I tried to leave baby Hugo out on the doorstep for the stork to take back. I wanted a _big_ sister, not a disgusting, red, wrinkled _little_ _brother_! Unfortunately, there is apparently a no-return policy on babies." Rose and Scorpius laughed. Scorpius noticed how nice this was. He had almost forgotten about - oh. The sadness set back in the moment the Slytherin prefect in the painting over his bed spoke up in a nasally voice.

"Professor McGonagall sends for you, Mr. Malfoy. Your parents are here." The spell broken, the two seventh years broke apart, an awkward void filling quickly between the two.

"Um, so yeah, I think I packed everything that you'll need in there," Rose said, handing off the bag to Scorpius as the two walked down the stairs, "I can fill in for your Head Boy duties and get your class stuff if you want, because we have all the same classes but one, so it might just be easiest. I'm rambling aren't I? I'm really sorry -"

"Rose! It's okay, thank you. For everything." Scorpius said as they stopped in front of the doorway. Rose smiled.

"No problem. I'll send you an owl about the class stuff. I'm really sorry about Cassie. If there's anything you need . . ." Rose trailed off. Instead of continuing, she just decided to hug Scorpius one more time, then left him behind in his room.

After Rose left, the awful feeling of reality set in again and Scorpius began the short trek to the Headmistress' office. As soon as he arrived, he saw a blur of green cloth and his mother had thrown herself into his arms. _This is different_ , Scorpius noted to himself, _than Rose's hug. This is more motherly comfort, while Rose's . . ._

"Oh Merlin, thank everything that you're all right!" Astoria said as she hugged her son tightly. As Scorpius looked over his mother's shoulder, he saw that, surprisingly, it wasn't just his mother who had evidence of tears on her face, but his father. Draco Malfoy stood stoic in the corner, his eyes pink and his nose and cheeks flushed a slight red before coming over to his family and joining in on the hug, letting out a deep shuddering sigh. McGonagall stood silently at her desk, allowing the Malfoy family some time to grieve before clearing her throat. The three entwined Malfoy separated into the three chairs in front of McGonagall's desk, Scorpius in the middle and each hand holding one of his parents'.

"I am deeply saddened to hear what happened at Ilvermorny to your daughter. She was - is - a very bright young girl. Anything you need from Hogwarts,we will try to deliver." Draco Malfoy cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Professor. Scorpius will have to be withdrawn, of course, probably for a few days." McGonagall nodded.

"Do you have everything that you need for your classes?" she asked Scorpius, who was still gripping on to his parents' hands as if they were a lifeline.

"Ye-yes, I do. I have a - a friend who's going to send me everything I need. One of the Heads has agreed to pick up my work."

"All right then. I will have you signed out for four days. If you need more time, please don't hesitate to owl me. Good luck." McGonagall said, dismissing the family.

* * *

After taking the train to Hogsmeade and apparating to their house to pick up their clothes, the family finally apparated to the Ilvermorny Hospital Wing. Scorpius had hung back as he watched his parents rush to one of the bedsides, to a pillow that had long, dark hair spread across the pillow like a halo. As if in a trance, Scorpius walked calmly over to the chair next to that bed, not quite understanding how his little sister was wrapped up in bandages around her waist and leg. He couldn't quite comprehend why there was a breathing tube around his little Cassie's mouth, and why her grey eyes weren't open and teasing him with an amused twinkle.

After a while - Scorpius couldn't have told you how long - the eldest Malfoy child was sitting alone by his sister's bedside, watching her sleep.

"She's stable," the busy Healer-Auror had said with a thick Jersey Accent. Scorpius noted the smear of scarlet on her cheekbone and the tray of bloody medical instruments she was carrying - _I guess not everything can be healed with a wave of a wand_ , Scorpius thought with a jolt. His parents walked over from making arrangements for extra Healers to come to hear what the woman had to say.

"She received a bullet wound to her thigh and a bullet glanced off her side. Her femur bone is fractured, but as long as her bandages remain clean, she'll recover quickly with the right healing spells. She's lucky - luckier than some of the people in this Hospital Wing." She gave a quick nod to Draco and Astoria, her eyes softening slightly when she looked at Scorpius. With the call of a Healer by a nearby bed, her gaze hardened back into her battle glare and went running off to help. It occurred to Scorpius that he probably looked like a child, lost eyes and wild hair at his sister's bedside. All of a sudden, Scorpius felt useless just sitting there with his parents while all these Aurors and Healers around him were working hard to help everyone else. He caught up with the woman in a few long strides and tapped her shoulder

"Um, sorry to bother you, but, uh, is there-" Scorpius faltered at the sight of a Healer pulling a blood spotted sheet over a face on one of the beds, but he forged on, "Is there anything I can do to help? Clean any tools, or get bandaged or anything?" The woman's gaze softened again, and she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, kid. No offense, but leave this to the trained Healers and Aurors. The best thing you can do it to stay by your sister's side - she'll need you now more than ever," the Auror said, not unkindly. Scorpius nodded, and she whirled back around to the bed, calling out for more bandages. It dawned on Scorpius that he had just distracted a Healer from giving treatment to a patient who probably desperately needed it. He moaned and trudged back to the chair by Cassie's bed, trying not to get in the way of anyone else. Scorpius decided to write some letters - four to be exact. He laid them out on the bedside table, waiting for Achilles to pick them up. He gave his owl a little treat, who in return gave him a nuzzle, and watched him take off with the bundle of papers.

One for Fred. To update him and thank him for his concern, and to ask for some comedy in a letter back, because Salazar knew Scorpius needed a laugh right then.

One for Rose. Also giving an update and a thank you, also asking for the homework of that day.

One for Marcie. Telling her that she was right. About some things, at least.

One for the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office. Applying for the Auror job so that one day, he truly could protect his sister wherever and whenever.

 **A/N: So? How you like? I'm going to be gone at camp for the next two weeks, but I'll do a lot a brainstorming between now and then, and hopefully will quickly be able to type out a chapter for y'all! Hope you enjoyed, and as always, follow, favorite, and review!**

 **Adios bitchachos,**

 **~RestisRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 7/10/16**

 **Updated: 9/3/16**


	12. In Which Owls Soar

**A/N: And in five, four, three, two . . . Hi everyone! I'm back from camp, and so what does that mean? I'm taking a long, hot shower, eating actual food, and updating my fanfiction! This chapter will be set up a little differently, mostly comprised of letters opposed to an actual plotline - make sense? Let's hope so. By the way, shout out to all of y'all for 17 reviews - can we reach 20? I think so! Introducing (the admittedly long overdue) Chapter 12 "In Which Owls Soar":**

Dear Fred,

Can I just say thank you, because I needed you right then. So, uh, thanks, I guess.

Feel free to send me any jokes or WWW products. Merlin knows I'll need some.

~Scorpius

~/-~/-/~/-

Scrotum,

Could you _be_ anymore awkward in thank-yous? You're _welcome_ , dumbass, but you don't actually need to thank me, because I'm your friend. However unfortunate it may be for me, I sort of have to look out for you. A right nasty job, if you ask me.

I got my dad to put together a package for you. And no, before you flip the hell out, I didn't tell him who you were and what happened, I just said that a friend was feeling unwell. Oh, and I threw in some chocolates as well.

Also, why just the dash then your name? So impersonal, Scrotum.

Forever and _eternally_ yours,

Fred

~/-/~/-~/-

Fine, Weasel. _Thank you_ for the gifts. Cassie woke up for the first this morning whilst I was halfway through the "chocolates" - as in the puking treats (oh, and _thanks_ for that by the way. I _will_ get back at you later). Needless to say, she laughed at me and told me that I looked even worse than I usually do. I swear to Godric, she is the most judgemental child I have ever met, and I know your cousin . . .

In any case, I'm going to need you to send me some more tricks. I want to keep her entertained.

Love and Kisses to You,

Scorpius

P.S. - was that better?

~/-~/-~/-

Ah, that's the spirit, my little Scorpy-Flower. As per usual, I am the best friend. Don't worry I can send you more stuff. Cassie's awake? Tell her that she is my hero for calling you out on your bullshit.

You're not missing too much here - Al is going batshit that you aren't here. He's trying to find another seeker, and he even asked me before he realized that I am a loyal Gryffindor - cousins or not, I am not going to betray my people. Honestly, I feel like once you left, shit has gone to pieces. So come back soon, Scrotum. Tell Cassie to get better, because god dammit, I hate to say it, but I need you here.

May the magic of my everlasting love be described sufficiently through ink,

Fred

PS - was that the best you could do with the sign off? Come on, mate, step up your game.

~/-~/-~/-

Thanks for that, Fred. Cassie sends her pity to you that you would ever need me, the little traitor. I'm sorry about Al - he tends to have his head in the game/his ass most of the time.

She's getting a lot better - the doctors say that she will be back up in three weeks along with some physical therapy. I'll see you soon, Weasel.

My true love for you dances beautifully in the wind,

Scorpius

~~~/-~~~/-~~~/-

To the International Ministry of Magic's Office of Aurors,

I, Scorpius Atlas Malfoy, officially submit my intent to enter the Aurorship trainee program. Please send any forms I need to fill out along this owl - thank you very much for the oppurtunity.

Regards, Scorpius Malfoy

~/-~/-

Mr. Malfoy,

Thank you very much for your submission of intent - the application forms are comprised of a few information questions and a few opinion questions. Data such as your grades will automatically taken from your school if you make it past the first round of application cuts, and then after that, we will send out forms such as medical information and contracts, along with a thorough background checks. These are the following questions:

 **Full Name:**

 **Date of Birth:**

 **School and Year of Graduation:**

 **Which Specialty are you Applying For?**

 **Why do you Believe the Auror Program is Important?**

 **Why are you applying to become an Auror?**

Thank you for your application.

Best, Scarlett Mason, Head of Applications of the International Auror Office

~/-~/-~/-

Dear Ms. Mason,

Thank you very much for your swift reply. The answers to the application questions are as follows:

 **Full Name:** Scorpius Atlas Malfoy

 **Date of Birth:** 12/17/06 (Aged 17 as of present)

 **School and Year of Graduation:** Hogwarts, 2024

 **Which Specialty are you Applying For?** Espionage Auror

 **Why do you Believe the Auror Program is Important?**

Ask anyone in my parents' generation and they will tell you the same answer - to fight the Death Eaters. However, important the Aurors were during the Second Wizarding War, they are just as necessary, if not more say, in this day and age. Muggle technology is being incorporated into the Wizarding World as I am writing these words - this is a new and dangerous era being ushered in right under our noses, whether we like it or not. The Auror Office will have to bear the brunt of the repercussions until the Ministry passes laws about Muggle-Magic product regulation, as it has always had to do. The Aurors have always been on the front lines, changing, evolving, adapting, _mutating_ quickly to the crime that's committed, and to save as many lives as possible in the process. So, I suppose to summarize, I believe that the Auror Program is important because it has been, still is, and always will be the first and last defense of the innocents caught in the conflict of the ever-changing world.

 **Why are you applying to become an Auror?**

My sister was recently a victim of the first shooting by a wizard in recorded/known history. I always wanted to be an Auror before, simply because I thought it was a noble and exciting job to have, but this event changed my views quite a bit. While I am filling out this application, I am sitting at my almost critically wounded sister's bedside. I never want anyone's family to ever feel the feeling I did when I heard someone shouting out in my school's Dining Hall that there was a shooting at my baby sister's school. Another thing that has changed my mind? I am watching two teams of Aurors running around the Ilvermorny Hospital Wing. These brave witches and wizards were the first responders, and if it wasn't for their competence, intelligence, and skill, not only would the victim count be higher, but there would be far more of the wounded dead by now. These Aurors have been working for at least fifteen hours, and they have yet to show fatigue or duress. I realized that an Auror's job was never an easy one - I at one point had to watch two Healer-Aurors make a decision as to whether or not a patient was too far gone or not. It was with this grim realization that I decided that I definitely wanted to be an Auror - I want to be an Auror because I wish to lessen the load on others and the world itself, to gladly share in some of its burden if it meant that someone else's suffering could be eased. _That_ is the reason I want to become an Auror. _That_ is the reason I believe we are all here.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, Scorpius Malfoy

~/-~/-~/-

Hey Marcie,

You were right.

~Scorpius

~/-~/-~/-

Scorpius,

Of course I am - aren't I always? But what is it exactly at this point in time?

-Marcie

~/-~/-~/-

Ha ha. You were sort of right at least. You are a 'frickin' awesome listener' - I applied to the Auror Trainee Program.

~Scorpius

~/-~/-~/-

Ah, Scorpius. Of course I am an awesome listener. For a second there, I thought you were going to admit something else to me . . . bugger, but what can I do? So what made you change your mind about the Auror Program? As awesome as I may be, I have a feeling that it wasn't my "listening" that pushed you over the edge. So _spill_.

-Marcie

(Oh, and by the way, Melora caught up with me after class - nice girl, bit too much cleavage for me - and asked after you. I didn't know what to tell her, so I just made up some bullshit about a yodeling exchange program. I'm basically saying to not be surprised if you get a letter about your perilous Norwegian journey of song from her. Y'know, just a heads up.)

~/-~/-~/-

I wish you could see me rolling my eyes here - no I am not thinking about that, get your mind out of the gutter and off your fantasy couple of me and my enemy, thank you very much. So NO, you _can't_ do anything . . .

Let's just say it was a family emergency. But hey, I might pick up that Norwegian choir story from you and use it . . . it will certainly be a hit with the ladies (insert my smirk here) - and yes, Melora is a nice girl - I wouldn't just sleep with her for no reason, would I?

~Scorpius

~/-~/-~/-

S-

Here are your assignments from Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions for today - I'm not in your History class, so I didn't get those. Hope Cassie's okay.

Rose

~/-~/-~/-

My lovely Rose Petal,

Just an 'S' - not even my full name? You wound me, fair maiden.

Thanks for the homework - don't worry about the History homework, I probably wouldn't have done it anyways. Cassie's okay - recovering fine, for now.

~Scorpius

~/-~/-~/-

S-

I wish you were here right now for two reasons, and before you get your perverted little hopes up, none of them include your usual activities with girls - so I could slap you for calling me Rose Petals and so you could see me laugh at the pleasure of causing you pain.

Here's your homework for today - you don't do your History homework? Seriously? So when I rearranged the entire Prefect Patrol schedule because you were too swamped with History work that you couldn't do any of the Head work yourself, you were off snogging some poor fool in a corner? Typical.

Rose

Post Script - I included some chocolate frogs for Cassie - my uncle tells me that chocolate always gets one's strength up

~/-~/-~/-

Dearest Hydrangea Blossom,

You want me with you? Our time apart pains me as well.

Oh and, uh, yes. I was not working on History homework that day.

~Scorpius

PS - my little sister-turned traitor thanks you for the Chocolate Frogs. She didn't believe that you poisoned them like I told her you did. You are corrupting those close to me with chocolate - I will have my revenge.

~/-~/-~/-

S-

Seriously? You are getting further and further from my actual name, if that's somehow possible.

Well, what were you working on? Do I even want to know? Nevermind, I totally do.

Rose

Post Script - I sent along some more chocolate frogs and some Bernie Bott's. I will turn your sister against you yet!

~/-~/-~/-

Darling little Poppy sprig,

Uh, I may or may not have been hooking up with Melora? I also had Quidditch that day and I actually was swamped. Though I am touched that you remembered the little fact that I was busy - and the reason for it too! I think it shows you care. ;)

Also, was there any homework that was supposed to be sent with the last letter?

~Scorpius

PS - jokes on you - my sister already thinks I'm a loser. All your work for nothing! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA fake laugh hiding real pain.

~/-~/-~/-

S-

I suppose I should give up on the name thing - not saying I will. I will personally emasculate you when you get back if you continue on that path.

Are you FUCKING kidding me? You're a git. A wanker. Fuck you. Did you know that I had a Charms and a Potions Essay due that next day? No of course you didn't because you're a selfish prick.

There wasn't any homework, a Quidditch match was today, Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff won by the way. Even if there was homework, I have half a mind to not send it to you at all and watch you fail out of Hogwarts. _That_ would be fantastic to see.

Rose

Post Script - Well then I pity your sister for having to spend any time with you at all because she certainly knows what an ass you are. I'm sending more chocolate to her with this letter out of sympathy.

~/-~/-~/-

Crocus Leaves of Beauty,

I see you want to see what's underneath my pants then . . . ;D SO eager.

Hey, I never said I wasn't an awful person. But I actually feel bad about that, so, sorry I guess.

~Scorpius

PS - stop sending my sister food, she's going to get fat.

~/-~/-~/-

Dear Rose,

Please do not listen to my idiot of a brother and please keep sending me food. All I can do is eat away the pain he causes by being here. Thank you for what you have sent so far and I eagerly await more.

~Cassandra Malfoy

~/-~/-~/-

Dear Scorpius,

Are you fucking serious? I am planning to cut your dick off and all you can think about is someone seeing you naked? I would be more worried if I were you.

Sorry doesn't cut it. I have attached any homework.

Rose

Post Script - I won't listen to what you say, your sister says she wants more, so she'll get more. Give her the Cauldron Cakes I sent as well.

~/-~/-~/-

Cassie, have no fear - I will send you so much food your stupid brother won't be able to hide it from you. Stay strong, I know how awful he can be :)

Rose

~/-~/-~/-

Dear Rose,

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou. Can I replace you with my brother? You are _way_ better.

~Cassie

~/-~/-~/-

My Bodacious Geranium,

Forgive me if I don't take your threat against my genitals seriously, you have been making that threat since fifth year and I'm not nearly as scared as you say I should be anymore.

Well what do you want me to do? Get on my knees and beg for forgiveness? Please. It's not that big a deal.

~Scorpius

PS - I see you have been conversing with the traitor sister. Well played, asshole, it's on.

~/-~/-~/-

 **A/N: So that's it for now! I'm sorry, I know it's a _lot_ shorter than what you or I are used to, but I really just wanted to pump this motherfucker out for all of you! Sorry it took so long! 3**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 7/29/16**

 **Updated: 8/24/16**


	13. In Which There's a Duel (Finally)

**A/N: Wassup brochachos! Ok, so I just _Cursed Child_ , and I have officially accepted it as good, but not great enough to be JK Rowling canon for this story, just so I can finish it and not screw everything up or have spoilers for those who haven't read it. Not much else to say, but here's to introducing Chapter 13, "In Which There's a Duel (Finally)"**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _My Bodacious Geranium,_

 _Forgive me if I don't take your threat against my genitals seriously, you have been making that threat since fifth year and I'm not nearly as scared as you say I should be anymore._

 _Well what do you want me to do? Get on my knees and beg for forgiveness? Please. It's not that big a deal._

 _~Scorpius_

 _PS - I see you have been conversing with the traitor sister. Well played, asshole, it's on_.

 **Rose POV**

Scorpius was back five days after the shooting. Not that Rose cared about him, but she was glad he was back, because that meant Cassie was doing better - Rose had to admit, that girl was bloody fantastic. Truly, she had no idea how the two shared a genetic pool. Rose was walking back from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor common room with Amoury and Yvonne when there was a disturbance at the other end of the hall.

"Roseroseroseroseroseroserose!" A voice screamed down the hallway, knocking over several underclassmen in a ball of flying robes and shoulder bag.

"Marciemarciemarciemarcie!" Rose mimicked her friend, laughing, as the blonde girl almost bowled her over, hanging on to her shoulder. Marcie laughed in short gasps, trying to catch her breath as the four continued to walk back to the dorms slowly.

"Oh, you guys!" Marcie finally said, straightening out her robes.

"Oh, _Marcie_!" Yvonne mimicked her friend again, Amoury and Rose smiling expectantly.

"Okay, I know we don't often do this, but girl talk time." Marcie said in one breath, laughing slightly into Rose's ear.

"And that, mes amies, is my cue to leave. See you Marce, Rose. I will see you soon, Yvonne, mon coeur?" Amoury said with his somewhat lilting french accent, a raised eyebrow and a charming, shy grin.

"Of course." Yvonne said, kissing his cheek - the two had begun casually dating a few weeks ago. Amoury turned his head and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before doubling back down the hallway. Yvonne's hands fluttered around her chest as she sighed slightly. Rose and Marcie gave each other a knowing smirk. Rose pressed a hand against her heart with a dramatic sigh while Marcie puckered her lips made kissy noises.

"Oh, fuck you guys!" Yvonne laughed, whacking them with her bag, "Go on Marcie! You had something to say? Hmmm? Girl talk, was it?"

"Oh, I could use some girl talk, I've been doing double Head work with Malfoy gone, and I just came out of a Runes exam. PLEASE. Throw me some sort of entertainment," Rose groaned. Marcie danced a little jig in front of the two girls and ended with a little dramatic pose.

"Guess who just asked me to the Yule Ball?"

"Mmmm, William Kensington?" Rose guessed.

"Bleh, no, cute face, bad kisser."

"Um, okay, Kennedy Fortescue?" Yvonne piped up.

"Nope, been there, done that. Cute face, great kisser, but a crazy bitch."

"Okay, so who _haven't_ you kissed?" Rose asked, throwing her hands in the air. Marcie sniffed and gave Rose the hairy eyeball.

"Shut up. Keep guessing. Both."

"Uh, I don't know, Timothy Woodworth?" Yvonne asked, running out of people. Marcie made the most disgusted face and noise Rose had ever heard and seen.

"How low do you think my standards _are_?"

"Oh, I give up. Just tell us," Rose demanded impatiently.

"Lily."

"My _cousin_ Lily?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Uhhh, yes? I thought you knew? We've been on and off for like two months - I was hoping she would ask me." Rose buried her face into her hands and moaned, while Yvonne looked uncomfortable. She still didn't quite know how to address the falling out the two had.

"Please avada me. I am an awful friend and cousin - I should have realized and given you the 'don't fuck with my family talk'." Marcie laughed and slung an arm around Rose's shoulder.

"You know, I think I can do without it. 'I will crucio your ass if you even try to hurt her, I will raise hell if you make her mad, blah blah blah.' I've heard the spiel before, but excuse me if I'm not intimidated by someone who barely broke the five foot mark," Marcie snorted while dodging a punch from Rose, "Anyways, we're gonna have to get dresses! The ball is less than a month and a half away!" However Marcie expected Rose to react, it certainly wasn't groaning and dragging her feet.

"Don't remind me. Heads have to work out everything, because of some bullshit tradition that they always do it. I swear, the professors here don't do shit. The Heads do literally all the dirty work."

"Doesn't mean you can't look for a dress and have some fun!" Yvonne said with a soft, teasing smile, "When someone asks you, you're gonna want to have a dress at least!"

"Ugh, I'm not going to have time to dance with anyone, all the Heads will be working their asses into the ground making sure no one spikes the First Year punch!" Rose moaned as the three girls rounded the corner into the hallway outside the Great Hall. Checking on the hourglasses, Marcie whooped triumphantly at the sight of the half-full diamond hourglass next to the slightly less full sapphire one.

"And yet again, I will remind you that Hufflepuffs are better?" Marcie said with a dramatic bow. Yvonne just scoffed and flicked her wrist at Marcie.

"Need I remind you that Gryffindor is better than both?" Rose teased, pointing at the ruby hourglass that had maybe a few more rubies than Hufflepuff had diamonds. Both Yvonne and Marcie rounded on Rose playfully.

"Well _that_ is because you're a Head, and you are competitive, and so you give Gryffindor a _lot_ of unearned points. Goody two shoes Alice can never be corrupted to give Ravenclaw a half a sapphire! Where is her loyalty?" Yvonne lamented.

"Same with Lorcan! It's _so_ bloody annoying! He can't even be bribed with Weasley Fudge, believe me I've tried. It's disturbing! He's a Hufflepuff, and we're supposed to be loyal! Some loyal bloke he is . . ." Marcie joined Yvonne's grumbling.

"Oh come off it, you two! Heads have to record all the points they add or take in this huge book that McGonagall _always_ checks - we couldn't give our houses any extra points even if we wanted to!" Rose laughed with her two friends. She liked this - this light, airy banter. It was fun, de-stressing. It was a nice, quiet Friday at Hogwarts.

"May I remind you that _Slytherin_ has the most points, Buttercup." A smooth, though somewhat unsually gravelly, voice said from behind them, at the other end of the Entrance Hall by the doors. Maybe Fate had something out for Rose Weasley, or maybe she was just unlucky, but when she turned around, Scorpius Malfoy was standing there with his bag that she had packed for him a week earlier. Despite their somewhat truce while he was with his sister, it was obvious that any trace of it had disappeared. His eyes were still a little sad, but his hair was as perfectly dishelved as ever, his clothes unwrinkled, and smirk hung snugly on his lips.

"Oh, _hello_ , wanker. To what do we owe the misery?" Rose said with a huff. Marcie and Yvonne exchanged a look and backed away slowly.

"Pleasure, as always, Chrysanthemum." Scorpius said, walking towards the center of the Entrance Hall. Everyone else besides Rose had already retreated into the corners of the room, leaving a large space open for the two seventh years. Rose let out another huff and called after him.

"My name is _Rose_ , Malfoy, get it right."

"Petulant and tiny as always, I see, Lotus." Scorpius said, pretending to already be bored with their encounter - or he actually was, but Rose couldn't tell. Either way, it pissed her off to be thrown aside so easily.

"What the _hell_ is your problem?" She asked, stalking a bit closer to him, so the two stood no more than a meter apart. Scorpius looked down his nose at her exasperatedly.

"I, for once, have nothing against you, so can you just stop PMSing for a minute and let me get to my dorm?" he asked, clearly done with the conversation. Rose let him pass by her, but not before she crashed her shoulder into his side and muttering under her breath.

"You fucking Malfoys are all the same. Arrogant assholes." Okay, yeah it was a low blow. If she could take it back, Rose definitely would. But she was mad at not being taken seriously, especially after she had done Scorpius a huge favor when he was gone - he treated her as if nothing had happened! Either way, Scorpius stopped dead in his tracks, then turned around very slowly. The look he wore on his face was enough to make most anyone flinch, but Rose was not most anyone. She just straightened as tall as she could be, chin up and fists balled.

"Pray tell, why did you use my family name as in _insult_? Aren't you always the one saying people are more than their families?" His green eyes flashed.

"Well, you're all spoiled, rich assholes. I was simply just using your last name as a blanket statement instead of trying to list every git the Malfoy House has produced." Rose said her voice rising a bit.

"Tell me Weasel, is it a _crime_ to be rich? Not that your family has ever had the luxury, of course," Scorpius said, his voice rising to match Rose's volume.

"Below the belt, Malfoy." Rose hissed, slapping him across the face. Nothing too hard, but Rose still had an arm, so Scorpius took a step back, rubbing his cheek. He brandished his wand, flicked his wand in some sort of nonverbal spell, and before Rose could even pull out her wand, she was thrown against a pillar. The small crowd of people who had begun to form let out a collective gasp.

"A bit hypocritical, Daisy. You insult my family, I insult yours." He said from across the room. Rose stood up, unfazed.

"Yes, but unlike my insults, yours are based on false assumptions. _Titallando_!" Rose shouted. Malfoy managed to throw up a shield, but he was knocked off his feet from the impact - he rolled and stood up.

" _Novus Genua_!" Scorpius yelled, his knee reversing curse unsuccessful as Rose dodged out of the way.

"Please, Dianthus," Scorpius drawled, "Enlighten me."

" _Furnunculus! Tarantellegra! Levicorpus!_ " Rose shouted, firing spell after spell. Scorpius, unfortunately managed to dodge or shield himself against the spells and hexes, but his preoccupation allowed Rose to continue their fight.

"Yes, you see my parents were offered a _lot_ of money after the war, but they refused and gave the money to rebuild Hogwarts, because that's just the sort of good people they are!"

"About time you stopped resting on your parents' laurels, eh Hyacinth?" Scorpius shot a few curses back at her - the rate of spell exchange had started to pick up.

"Well Malfoy, you certainly wouldn't want to rest on _your_ parents'." Rose shot back, along with a few spells of her own.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the laurels of a Death Eater are pretty sparse."

"Fuck you, Rose."

"You just say that 'cause I'm right, Scor." By then, there was no point in actually keeping up the conversation - their interactions had devolved into complicated spells and filthy insults occasionally thrown in. At one point, Rose was dancing on her tiptoes on a tiny rock in a pit of lava. At another, Scorpius was being tossed back and forth overhead by enchanted chandeliers. The spells flying back and forth were way above an average seventh year's level, and the crowd began to watch almost like spectators watching football - a curious fascination, but sickened at the same time at the high possibility of injury. The two had been going at it for a good ten minutes by the time McGonagall showed up, the folds by her mouth deepened into a snarl.

" _PROTEGO_!" She shouted. The two bounced off of a newly appeared invisible shield, landing ungracefully on their butts. Rose and Scorpius stood up and tried to start their fighting again, but were restrained by Marcie and Fred respectively. _That's weird. Why is Fred-_ , Rose thought, but her attention was cut off by the sight of McGonagall's fuming face.

"-never, not for _twenty years,_ have I seen anything like this! You disgrace your families, your houses, _me_!" At least both of the students had the decency to look ashamed and stopped struggling against their respective captors. The red eventually faded from McGonagall's face, but the furious look was still present.

"Thank you Ms. Scamander, Mr. Weasley, you may release those two now. Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, follow me," her angry but still unshaking voice said as she whipped around, her tartan robes flowing behind her. Scorpius and Rose exchanged a nervous glance with their friends and then shuffled along behind the professor.

"Keep up. I'm ninety years old with a foot in the grave, and I am walking faster than you," she called over her shoulder, and her two cowed students fell into step behind her until they reached the gargoyle.

"Peppermint Stick!" McGonagall said - she kept with her predecessor's tradition to have the password be muggle candies. The three quickly walked up the newly appeared staircase and into the Headmistress' office. McGonagall wakled quickly across the room and into her chair on the other side of the large desk in the room. Fawkes, looking resplendent as always, but also about to start his dying process, fluttered off of his perch in an open golden cage and landed next to Minerva. The Headmistress stroked his head absentmindedly.

"Sit." McGonagall said in that cold voice, gesturing to the seats in front of the Headmistress desk. Scorpius and Rose did so, Rose taking the seat on the far left and Scorpius on the far right, the two angled away from each other. Rose felt a little bad, but Scorpius had definitely started in in her opinion. She sent him a nasty look saying _Fuck you this is your fault that we are here_. Scorpius sent her a look back which she interpreted as _Fuck you it's your fault_. Or something along those lines. McGonagall continued to stroke Fawkes with her rigid posture, staring down the two normally outspoken students in front of her. A large tawny owl soared in through an open window, dropping a note on to McGonagall's desk. Rose saw 'URGENT' stamped across the front. Neither of them emitted the smallest sound as she broke the seal ad read the letter. McGonagall's face grew whiter and whiter until she put the parchment down and her face suddenly turned a furious shade of red.

"I am aware that you two have had your conflicts in the past. I am even aware that you two have dueled in the past. I try to be reasonable. I try not to interfere with personal student matters unless it breaches the safety of others or themselves. But I thought you two could pull yourselves together and be mature students in your last year at Hogwarts. You both are splendid students, well liked by your peers, so I placed you two as Heads. You seemed able to pull yourselves together for only two months. Only _two_ months without a major physical confrontation. I am aware that you have both tried to keep others out of your disputes, so for whatever your faults, I can find a positive quality for both of you in that. However, what happened today was completely irresponsible, selfish, and downright shameful. I have let you have your little disputes in the past without too much punishment - save the cracked skull incident - because, against my better judgement, I thought that if you two could refrain from hurting yourselves or others, it was actually good to practice such complicated spells on similarly skilled opponents. But did you know that one of you, with your last spell, hit Ms. Mariah Bell with a curse that threw her into a wall? Did you know that she has a fractured spine, as Madam Pomfrey has just informed me? I don't know why you believe what you do is permissible - I do not care who your parents are, or how much money they have given to this school, so help me I should _expel_ both of you!" Rose put a hand to her mouth to cover her gasp. She blinked back tears - not only because she might be expelled, but because of Mariah. She was a sweet, quiet girl from Slytherin who never raised her voice at anyone. She truly showed that Slytherins could be more than just awful brutes. She was just a second year - Rose had TA'd her class (along with Cassie), and the girl was talented. If Rose had done anything to hurt her, she could never forgive herself. Rose snuck a peek at Scorpius, and he hand his elbows rested on his knees and his head in his hands. The silence in the room was pressing.

"However, she will be fine after a few days in the hospital. Therefore, I will not expel you," McGonagall said in the same steely voice. Rose and Scorpius relaxed a bit, but still maintained their melancholy positions. A young girl was still hurt. Because of them.

"But don't expect to get off without any punishment. You both will be relieved of your Head positions for the next two weeks. Albus Potter will take your position, Mr. Malfoy, and Linda Macmillan will take Ms. Weasley's position. Mr. Malfoy, you will be banned from the next quidditch game against Ravenclaw, and out of practice for two weeks. Ms. Weasley, you will be stripped of your title of 'Gryffindor Playmaker' for two weeks, and banned from the Chess Club for ten days. Letters will be sent to both your parents. You two will start serving detention cleaning up the mess you made in the Entrance Hall as soon as this little meeting is over. You are old enough to clean up after your own bloody messes. You will not be released from that detention until the work is finished. You are lucky that dinner is already over - I would make you work the day if this encounter was in the morning, mind you. I want every brick back in place, every person back in their portrait, you hear me? Do you think you can handle yourselves together, alone, for one night? If not, I will have to consider suspension." Rose's jaw had dropped at the extent of the punishment, but nodded her head quickly in unison with the equally disgruntled Scorpius. McGonagall appraised the two in front of her, and for the first time, actually looked old and fragile. She heaved herself up with Fawkes fluttering on to her shoulder. She began her stooped gait towards an empty wall, before stopping and addressing Rose and Scorpius over her shoulder.

"You may show yourselves out and start your detention. No magic to clean the burns expect to conjure water, soap, and rags, as well as levitating major pieces of stone back into place. I expected more from you two. I am giving you a second chance. Please, _please_ don't let me down. Rose, Scorpius, please stop this nonsense. I just want you to get along. Is that too much to ask?" And with that, the old Headmistress disappeared through the wall.

Rose got up and walked straight out the way they came in. With time to comprehend what had just happened, she was pissed. If it wasn't for Scorpius, Mariah wouldn't be hurt, Rose would still have her medal (which would look really good on job applications), and would be able to participate in the huge chess tournament coming up. She stalked down the already dark halls, empty because of the late hour and curfew. When she got to the Entrance Hall, she was shocked by the mess she and Scorpius had made. Sure, they had never been forced to clean up the effects of their fights, but they really couldn't be good enough wizards to create the shambles in front of her. She felt Scorpius come up behind her.

"Let's just get this over with." He growled, only a few centimeters from Rose's ear. She huffed a sigh and conjured soap buckets and rags for the two of them. Without even verbally decided upon it, Rose took the left end of the large hall (by the Dungeons stairs) and Scorpius took the right end (by the Great Hall) and the two worked, scrubbed, and levitated slowly inwards to each other. Rose cleaned up scorch marks on the ground, gathered rubble and levitated it back to the pieces' respective places. Her eyes were starting to droop a bit when the small pool of blood at the base of a pillar jolted her back awake. _Mariah_ , she thought grimly, _Oh Merlin, Mariah_. Two hours into the cleaning, around perhaps midnight, Rose and Scorpius were only a few meters apart, their backs to each other while they levitated pieces of the stone balcony back to its place.

"How's Cassie doing?" Rose asked tentatively. Scorpius snorted brusquely.

"Better. And fatter, thanks to your food." He replied shortly.

"I'm sorry about what happened to her. She is really . . . " Rose sighed a bit, "really something."

"Thought you said all Malfoys were 'arrogant assholes'," Scorpius replied in the same flat tone followed by a humorless laugh. Rose stiffened and replied in a similarly hard tone.

"Look, I'm sorry for dragging your family into it. I'm trying to . . . _apologize_." A little silence.

"Whatever. It's fine." Scorpius said with cool indifference.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Rose prickled. _I mean sure, I messed up, but certainly that wanker had something to do with it? Shouldn't he, at the very least, apologize too?_

"Nothing to say to you, Orchid, no."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"What? Can't stand something actually being your fault?"

"Well it wasn't all my fault! You were the one who started it!"

"Started it? You're the one who brought my family into it!"

"Yeah well you were the one who came up to me in the first place!"

"And so you made it into a fight?"

"I can't believe you! I just cleaned up a poor girl's blood on a pillar because you - _we_ were selfish!"

"Oh, that was uncalled for. Don't you think I know that? She was one of my sister's friends - it was my job to protect her, not hurt her! Merlin's balls, couldn't you cut me any fucking slack?"

"I think I cut you enough bloody slack over the past week! Doing all your goddamned work for you, sending everything you needed, giving food to your sister, and what did you do as soon as you got back? Antagonize me! What did I do when you needed me? I was there! And this is how you thank me? Dueling with me as soon as we lay eyes on each other?" By this point, the two had already turned around and were walking closer to each other, their loud voices echoing, unheard by anyone else, around the massive Hall.

"Oh, so we're going there? I was there when _you_ needed me, so don't act like that wasn't an equal relationship! Merlin, I can't _believe_ this! I have never met anyone as goddamned insolent, rude, inconsiderate -" Rose rolled her eyes as Scorpius' face got more and more red with each word.

"Oh, yeah keep it coming!" Rose yelled as he continued spewing insults, making a 'go on' hand gesture.

"-impolite, bitchy, vulgar-" Scorpius said, his face matching Rose's already ridiculously flushed one.

"Oh please, you can do better than that, you bloody tosser -" Rose baited, their chests bumping they were so close. Rose was totally annoyed that she was a good foot shorter than Scorpius, so she had to crane her neck up to make eye contact. She was sure Scorpius was secretly gloating. Or outwardly. It was always hard to tell when he was gloating or not with his personality.

"Aaaarrrrgh!" Scorpius' groan ripped their argument into silence. The two stood staring at each other, chests still touching ever so slightly. The tension in the air had never been thicker between the two. But what type of tension was it? Rose shook her head, breaking eye contact and whatever spell had been put over the room to make everything stop. With a wave of her wand, Rose vanished her rags and bucket. She turned and quickly walked toward the center grand staircase and, with one last, confused glance over her shoulder, scurried up and away from whatever the hell had happened at midnight in the Entrance Hall.

* * *

She had made it until 2 AM. She just couldn't help herself after that.

Rose got out of bed, threw on a bathrobe, and snuck her way out of her dormitory and into the Fourth Floor. Quickly undoing the locking charm on the Hospital Wing doors, she shut the door behind her silently. As she walked to the end of the wing, she saw that she wasn't the only visitor.

"Fancy seeing you here, Peony."

Rose cracked a small smile as she sat down next to the bed that held the little girl.

"Fancy that, Scor." She replied, staring at the slumbering twelve year old girl in front of her. Rose knew that Mariah would heal, and that she only had a minor concussion and head wound in addition to her back, but still. This was the worst anyone had been hurt in her and Scorpius' duels. The two Head students sat side by side in their robes, staring at the sleeping Mariah's face, which was only illuminated by a thin ray of moonlight that came in through a window. Scorpius' voice came out in a strained whisper.

"What the hell are we doing, Rose?" She sighed and slid one hand into Malfoy's, who in turn held gripped it a bit tighter. She let her chin rest on her other hand, her elbow propped up on her knee.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Rose replied. Silence.

"You know, I applied for the Auror position." Scorpius said eventually.

"Mmmm? Me too." Rose whispered back, somewhat absentmindedly while rubbing the second knuckle of his thumb with the pad of her's.

"It's gonna be our job to protect kids. I don't care if this was an accident, but we hurt someone today, Rose." Scorpius said, keeping his voice low. Rose nodded in response.

"No more public fights, Scor. I can't have another Mariah." She said, moving her head so it rested on Scorpius' shoulder. It was totally weird - it was like the public Scorpius lived to drive her insane. Constantly mocking, making rude comments. But this side of him? This was Scor, and she felt as if he was a friend - one almost as close as Marcie.

"How about no more fights at all?" Scorpius laughed quietly whilst saying it. Even the suggestion of such an idea was humorous. Rose smiled and jostled Scorpius' side with her shoulder.

"We can try, we can try."

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! You like? You don't like? Review and tell me!**

 **Posted: 8/9/16**

 **Updated: 9/2/16**


	14. In Which People Are Shit At Things

**A/N: Bonjour, mes amis! Introducing Chapter 14 "In Which People Are Shit at Things"!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"How about no more fights at all?" Scorpius laughed quietly. Even the suggestion of such an idea was humorous. Rose smiled and jostled Scorpius' side._

 _"We can try, we can try."_

* * *

 **Scorpius POV**

Something was palpable in the air of Hogwarts. Scorpius couldn't quite describe it to you, but he was sure of two things: it had something to do with the Gryffindor/Slytherin match that was going to be tomorrow, and that he wasn't the only one who felt it - as his friends so adeptly put it:

 _Rocco: What the fuck is going on?_

 _Al: What do you mean?_

 _Fred: I know what you mean - it feels like something's about to go to shit at any moment._

 _Al: Shut up! We don't need anymore stress for the Quidditch match tomorrow!_

 _Fred: Hate to break it to you, but Gryffindor is going to kick your green arses._

 _Rocco: Fuck you._

 _Al: We are not friends anymore, pompous red dickface._

So yeah. Pre-shit-air is what is basically felt like. It was three weeks since his and Rose's confrontation where Mariah got hurt. When the twelve year old got back to her room, she saw two separate piles of flowers and candies and shit, one from Scorpius, one from Rose. Needless to say, she forgave both of them easily because she didn't have to do her homework for that weekend. She was, in fact, attached to Scorpius' side at every possible minute. A small crush, sure, but it was honestly a tiny bit annoying for Scorpius, as he was forced to detatch himself from the small limbs that somehow wrapped themselves around him whenever he was trying to get to a class. Scorpius was bemoaning his terrible fate to Marcie after dinner.

"She's in love! You should humor her - you owe her that much!" Marcie exclaimed cheekily, smirking at him when he asked what the hell was going on in that twisted little brain.

"But _whyyyyyyyy_?" Malfoy whined, acting quite like a twelve year old himself. Marcie just flicked her wrist.

"Oh shut up, you should be honored that you are the center of a young girl's attraction! They don't choose just anyone - very high standards, mind you. My pre-teen crush was this unbelievably hot Muggle actor Tom Felton," Marcie teased.

"You are of no help. Fuck off." Scorpius moaned into his hands that covered his face.

"Wh-wh-wh . . . well, _excuse_ the shit out of me, you're the one who asked for my bloody advice in the first place!" Marcie laughed.

"Ugh, _whatever_ , Marce. Just go, leave me to my terrible fate," Scorpius just groaned into his hands again. Marcie looked as if she wanted to argue, but she saw something over Scorpius shoulder.

"Oh look, it's Mariah coming around the corner!" Marcie pointed over Scorpius shoulder with a theatrical gasp. Without any hesitation, Scorpius flung his bag across the hall and darted behind a suit of armor.

"Is she gone?" Scorpius asked shakily several minutes later, much to the already laughing Marcie's amusement.

"Nah, mate, I'm just fucking with you. But you should have seen the look on your face . . ." Marcie trailed off in laughter, dropping down to help Scorpius clean up his spilled bookbag. Murder flashed in Scorpius' eyes.

"I swear to McGonagall's frilly knickers, if I wasn't on probation . . ." He trailed off his playful threat with a faux-menacing glare whilst flicking his wand to clean a broken bottle of ink.

"You'd what? You could try to hex me, but this hot piece of ass knows her shit. I could beat you six ways to Sunday before you could even raise your wand. Fight me, Malfoy." Marcie blustered, joking getting into Scorpius' face.

"We will see about that, Scamander. I promise you, one day you're gonna say 'fight me', and I'm just gonna bloody deck you."

"Sure, Malfoy, sure." Marcie stood up from their little alcove by a hallway window and brushed herself off before affectionately rumpling up Scorpius' perfectly tousled hair.

"WHAT THE . . . FUCK YOU! DO YOU REALIZE HOW LONG IT TAKES ME TO DO MY HAIR?" Scorpius shout-whispered, just in case McGonagall was nearby. It wouldn't do to be heard swearing threateningly the night before a Quidditch game.

"Oh please, you don't mind it when Melora is sitting in your lap and running her hands all through your hair," Marcie rolled her eyes.

"Marcie, a) I haven't been with Melora in like a month and a half. B) She was my girlfriend, so that was not exactly an issue for me."

"A) Are you serious? It seems like you're always talking about being with Melora to 'blow off some steam' and B) you're calling the Hogwarts tramp your girlfriend?" Marcie asked incredulously.

"A) Yes I am serious, I have just been joking when I would say that, B) just because she's been with a lot of people doesn't mean she can't be my girlfriend. Just like the rest of her relationships, ours was short, so what?" Scorpius said. Marcie just smiled and ruffled Scorpius' hair again.

"You're not so bad, Malfoy."

"Wh-SERIOUSLY DUDE." Scorpius exclaimed. Marcie winked and sauntered off down the hall. Oh, but not before throwing a comment over her shoulder.

"Oh, and of course I realized how long it takes to get that hair do. Why else would I mess it up?" Scorpius just smiled softly to himself before standing up with his bag. What good that did, because literally a second and a half later Fred spotted him from the other end of the hall and ran over to sit the two of them down in the alcove.

"Dude." The Weasley boy said somewhat breathlessly.

"Fred." Scorpius mimicked his friend's excited tone.

"Dude."

"Fred."

" _Dude._ "

" _Fred._ "

"Dude, you would not fucking believe what just happened."

"Well, shoot."

"I asked Katie Willard to go to the Yule with me."

"And . . .?"

"She said no."

"What the fuck?"

"Just fucking with you, mate, she totally said yes and oh my Helga I think I might have a chance to hit that finally." Fred said excitedly, leaning back against the side of the alcove with a loud exhale and an almost unbelieving smile. Scorpius grinned.

"Congrats bro. But you gotta get out of here. If I am caught 'fraternizing with the enemy', the whole Slytherin team - as in Al - will have my ass." Scorpius got up, running a hand through his hair trying to absentmindedly fix it.

"We're gonna fuck you up. Be sure to tell that to Al by the way. See you on the pitch tomorrow, Scorpy-flower." Fred smirked, messed up Scorpius' hair, and got up and started walking down the hall the Marcie had walked down just a few minutes earlier while Scorpius walked the opposite way. As the two were walking away, Fred paused and turned back around with a grin.

"By the way, your hair looked even shittier than normal. I was just fixing it."

Scorpius let out a little scream of frustration before whipping his hands through his hair and starting the short trek back to his dorm. It was pretty late to be out, maybe fifteen minutes before the 10 o'clock dorm room curfew. However, as a Head, one had certain . . . privileges and loosening of rules.

The cement knot of stress in his stomach that Scorpius refused to acknowledge all day finally settled, weighing down his steps. This was the match that everyone was really waiting for - a good Gryffindor versus Slytherin match always brought in huge crowds, and the Slytherin team was going to need to be in top shape. Scorpius wasn't too worried about the B team - they had gotten a lot more cohesive together and with the A team, as there had been more and more practices, but because of the whole punishment from the Incident, he had been out of practice for two weeks. He had been in the stands, going over plays over and over and took total coaching control from Albus. Scorpius worked the As and Bs until he was sure he would receive death threats from his team mates because of their sore arses. The A team was lagging a bit - Freja and Philip had had some sort of petty spat, and the two just weren't working as well together as chasers as they usually were. Al was fighting a cold, but he refused to go to the Hospital Wing, or even to acknowledge his sickness, because he knew he would get sidelined. And if he wasn't going to beat the shit out of his cousins in this game, he would never live it down. And, of course, Scorpius had jumped back into practice this past week after being out for the two weeks prior, and so the rhythm of the A team was in a precarious state.

Scorpius sighed. He had needed to blow off some steam. He quickly walked the rest of the way to his dorm, tickled that son of a bitch kiwi, and made a beeline to his broom room. Marcie's broom still laid in the corner by the door that led out to one of the hallways by the Kitchens, waiting for a tail trimming. Scorpius broom was in perfect shape for the game tomorrow. The pole of the newest model of the Lightningsweep (that Scorpius had bought himself - and it certainly was not cheap, mind you) was a polished almost-black brown, it's twigs curved inward at a perfect angle, the silver trimmings devoid of any tarnish. As customary for all of the A team Slytherin players, every name of the team was carved in to the handle by each player. Scorpius shivered. The broom was so perfect for him that he almost got turned on by it. Almost. He grabbed the broom, threw his heavy black velvet coat over his shoulders - the cloak was trimmed with Knackersnuff fur with silver fastenings on his throat. The interior of the coat had green velvet sewn into it, and a permanent warming charm had been cast over it so one's torso would never freeze. It was incredibly pretentious, even for Scorpius, but it was a gift from Grandmother Narcissa. It wasn't exactly like he could just return a custom cloak, and beside, it was right comfortable. Scorpius put on his dragon scale leather gloves, cast a warming charm over his head so his ears wouldn't get totally frostbitten, and threw a Slytherin scarf around his neck. He went out the door that led to the Slytherin locker rooms, and quickly made his way onto the pitch.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the earthy, wet grass scent the Quidditch pitch always had. Scorpius made his way out to the center of the circular pitch, the darkness of the world around him disrupted only by the faint light coming from the castle behind him and the moonlit shadows of the stands. The silence was punctured only by the occasional whispering wind and owl hoot from the Aviary. Scorpius closed his eyes, kicked a leg over his broom, and let his feet push slightly off the ground. The freezing November air that was always present in Northern Scotland pierced through his warming charm easily and numbed his ears and nose pink, but the feeling of the wind whipping around him was exhilarating. The broom shifted to his commands as easily as his arm would, moving as if it was just another limb. Scorpius darted past the stands, weaving in and around the goalposts. The air from his lungs escaped, taken away by the wind, but Scorpius couldn't care less. He felt truly alive for the first time since before Cassie had been shot - he hadn't flown like this since then. He flipped and twirled on his broom, dipping in and around the ground stands for at least half an hour. He then turn his broom until the nose was pointing directly at the sky, and he flew vertically higher, higher, higher . . .

Scorpius felt his skin skim over the clouds as he passed, but he never changed his position on his broom, climbing higher and higher. _Just a little further, just a little higher, come on, push your limits, push . . . push . . . push . . ._

It wasn't until his watering eyeballs literally began to freeze and the pressure hurt his head so much that it felt it would explode did Scorpius finally turn the nose of his broom down. His fingers were as useless as frozen hotdogs, but he gripped the broom as hard as he could and he went into a total nosedive towards the ground.

It felt as if he was in freefall, the wind picking up as his ears popped violently over and over again. _Push harder . . . faster . . . fucking push, goddammit,_ push _!_

His speed kept climbing as he rocketed towards the ground. The stands became closer and closer until finally Scorpius was no more than two hundred feet from the ground. But Scorpius still didn't stop. He loved - no, loved implied affection- he was addicted to the rush, the feeling of the surge of adrenaline through his veins. It wasn't until he was perhaps five feet from the ground did Scorpius jerk his broom up - a difficult feat, mind you. Scorpius had to jerk it up at just the right angle, otherwise he would be a splat of pale blonde hair and intestines on the ground. But Scorpius was quite a good flier, and so it while it was a dangerous move, it was one he could execute. He looped a few times to ride off the rest of the energy of the fall before allowing himself to glide gently to the ground. He stumbled on to the wet grass with shaky legs before falling on to his knees to catch his gasping breath and manage the adrenaline shot that came with such a daring move.

"WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL WAS THAT SHIT? WERE YOU DOING YOUR FUCKING BEST TO GIVE ME A GODDAMN HEART ATTACK, YOU SON OF A BITCH?"

Scorpius' head snapped up to see a figure emerging hurriedly from the Gryffindor stand. He straightened up quickly, gathering his wheexing breath just in time to see the furious face of Rose Weasley.

"What the BLOODY FUCK was that? You could have DIED! What are you even DOING here?!" Rose yelled, not worried about being heard by anyone in the castle - they were too far away. Her brows were furrowed, and her cheekbones, nose, and ear tips were tinged pink from the biting cold. She was shivering, and her breath was coming out in small gasps because of her run down the five stories of stairs in the stands. Her waist long hair, instead of being in its usual bun or ponytail, was loose around her shoulders and was kept from flying around excessively by the knit hat she was wearing. She wore Muggle jeans and a thin jacket that had a Gryffindor scarf tucked into the collar. She had a pair of thick framed glasses that she had taken off and was cleaning absentmindedly with the edge of her sleeve. _She looks very cute_ , Scorpius thought numbly, before mentally slapping himself and replying to Rose.

"I was just flying around." He said somewhat breathlessly, gesturing around the pitch. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Well, no shit Sherlock. But I was thinking something more along the lines of 'what the bloody fuck was that nosedive that you almost died in and why are you even out here in the first place?'" She huffed, replacing her glasses on her face and breathing onto her bare fingers. Scorpius took off his scarf and gloves, offering the later to Rose. She shook her head and glared at him pointedly as if to say 'well go on, you were saying'.

"I was just blowing off some steam - let's not fight now, Rose. I could ask why you're out here as well." He began loosening the fastenings of his cloak. That activity had really warmed him up, and sweat was now running down his forehead and down his back. He plopped down on the ground, and after a little huff, Rose sat down next to him.

"Guess you could say I was blowing off some steam too," she wiggled a worn out looking notebook that Scorpius hadn't noticed earlier, "Just going over some quidditch plays. I'm the unofficial playmaker for the Gryffindor." She let out a little laugh.

"Oh, well let me take a look at that . . ." Scorpius said while he jokingly grabbed at the book. Rose let out an only slightly annoyed laugh and jumped up trying to protect the playbook. The two chased each other around until somehow Rose ended up on top of Scorpius, with the former triumphantly waving the book in front of Scorpius' nose before shoving the book down her shirt so he couldn't grab at it. The two stared at each other somewhat awkwardly, unsure what to do in this intimate position. Rose rolled off so she was lying next to Scorpius on the ground.

"Don't think I wouldn't grab down your shirt, Weasley. Just am too much of a gentleman to do it in such cold weather." He teased, laughing at the sight of Rose's face reddening at the innuendo.

"Oi, fuck off, pervert." Rose said, but the somewhat joking edge to her voice let Scorpius know they weren't fighting. After a brief silence, Rose spoke up again.

"You know, what you did was really dangerous. With the whole nosedive thing. I mean, you're a brilliant flyer, but that was just plain stupid. It was blind luck that you survived that."

"Rose Weasley, are you concerned with my wellbeing?" Scorpius teased, though in a somewhat serious tone. Rose was acting really weird, "And did you just compliment me? Should I take you to the Hospital Wing?" Rose just huffed again.

"You're an ass," She glowered pointedly, "Look, all I wanted to say is that that wasn't safe. If you had splatted on the ground, like anyone with normal flying talent, I don't think I could have bloody saved you in time - and imagine if I hadn't been there! I may hate your guts, but I sure as hell don't want to see them all over the quidditch pitch- I'm not _that_ much of a monster."

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it was stupid. I promise you I won't do it again," Scorpius said, a little irritated. Rose wasn't his mother.

"Don't promise me, promise yourself." Rose said, turning her head to look at Scorpius. The two laid there in silence until Scorpius finally noticed Rose's now-noticeable shivering.

"Wait, are you cold?" Scorpius said dumbly before mentally slapping himself. _I really am campaigning for idiot of the year, aren't I?_ Rose just gave a little smile.

"Er-yeah. Warming spells don't cover too much of your body, and mine are pretty shit, so -" She got cut off by Scorpius, who sat up and unfastened the cloak from around his throat quickly and held it out to her. He didn't really know why he cared so much about Weasley, but it was a new trend in his thinking and Scorpius really didn't want to analyze it too much.

"Mine are pretty shit as well, but here. It's really warm, and I'm still not cold." Rose looked as if she was going to protest, but was cut off by a sharp glare by Scorpius, so she just rolled her eyes and let Scorpius wrap it around her shoulder with a little nose puff of annoyance. She raise her eyebrows at Scorpius,

"Happy?"

"Yes," Scorpius said, his tone not allowing room for argument. The two lied back down, and after a brief pause, he spoke again.

"So you're shit at warming charms." Scorpius said finally. Rose groaned.

"Seriously?" She asked.

"No, not like that! I don't want to be rude, I just think it's hilarious that you're shit at something."

"Yeah, um, what part of that wasn't rude?" Rose said, her voice dropping ever so slightly while she lifted her head off the ground to glare at Scorpius.

"No, I mean, it's just good to see you're human." Scorpius laughed, and Rose settled back down into her lying down position.

"Oh ha-ha-ha. Rose sucks at everything. I can't help that I am not as 'flawless' as you, Malfoy."

"Well, _flawless_ is a bit of a stretch, but I am bloody awesome."

"Oh, okay then, so what are _you_ shit at? There has to be something." Rose prodded, the tone between the two of them shockingly light.

"You said it yourself, I'm flawless." Scorpius said, doing a mocking little hair flip.

"It's called sarcasm, Malfoy. I know your faults, but I just want to hear you say them from your own mouth." Rose shot back. Scorpius pretended to think, tapping his chin.

"Well, I'm shit at Divination."

"I don't think I know a single person who _isn't_. But that's a start," Rose said, the darkness of the sky shrouding her little smile in shadows. Scorpius looked over at her face, studying it. Rose looked pretty - she always did - but this was a bit different. She was relaxed. The darkness that she thought covered her body language was not quite dark enough - the moonlight plus the light from the castle allowed Scorpius to just make out the edges and contours of her face.

"Well go on," he prodded, nudging her side with an elbow, "You have to say something that you're shit at now. That's how this works."

"Wha-I _never_ said I would tell you something like that! You just offered up the information!" Rose laughed.

"C'mon, Rose." Scorpius prodded again, his smile evident in his voice.

"All right, all right, Scor. I'm shit at cooking."

"What? But you can bake like hell!"

"Yeah, well I suck at cooking for some reason! Apparently, the two are mutually exclusive for me. Your turn."

"I'm shit at art."

"I'm shit at organization."

"I'm shit at making schedules."

"I'm shit at shopping." It had begun to be a competition as to who could be the shittiest at shit.

"I'm shit at knowing when to shut up." While the two kept saying things they were shit at, their hands somehow ended up interlaced again. Scorpius always marveled at how small Rose's hand was - true, his were almost abnormally large (perfect for a seeker), but hers just seemed small. He moved his thumb slowly up and down the outside of hers, thinking of what else he was shit at.

"Yeah, well I'm shit at Charms!" Rose said.

"Bullshit - you got a higher grade than me on the OWLs!"

"Well I worked my ass into the ground, but I still had a rough final."

"All right then, I'm shit at Potions."

"You jest."

"Nope. I've just had the best luck in having good partners for the past few years. I'd probably only scrape by with an Acceptable if I was alone."

"Yeah, well, I'm shit at Quidditch," Rose said. Scorpius sat up, pulling Rose with him.

"Are you serious?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"I don't know, I for some reason thought you were really good at flying. I guess I just assumed you were too busy to go for the team," he said, lying back down. Rose really wasn't as perfect as he thought, and it was good to see that she had cracks like him, like everyone else.

"Nope. I love to watch it, and that's why I do plays. I'm great at tactics, but brooms just hate me for some reason."

"Well, I guess you learn something new everyday." There was a long pause.

"I'm worried about it though," Rose said in a small voice. Scorpius felt her hand grip his a little tighter. Her gave a gentle squeeze back, silently prodding her to continue.

"You need to be at least a decent flyer to become an Auror. I've tried to make Hugo teach my in the past, but it's not good. And we only have a month until the training sessions and trials, and I am just not ready-" Rose began to take deep, short breaths. Scorpius recognized this from Cassie - she had had minor hyperventilation attacks from her social anxiety last year. He had helped her get through her attacks, usually by catching them early. He rolled on top of Rose, steadying her head to the front so she was looking at him - he usually didn't need to be this close, but he didn't know how Rose's attacks. Her eyes were wide, but he managed to get them locked on to his.

"All right, Rose, look at me. Take a breath in through your nose - go on, count to one, two, three, four, five. All right, good, now out five, four, three, two, one. Good, now again." Scorpius stayed like that for several minutes after her eyes were no longer wide and panicked, just to make sure that Rose's breathing had returned to normal. Eventually, Rose pushed him off so she and him could sit up.

"Sorry," she took a deep breath, "My anxiety has gotten a lot better than it has been - I've managed to avoid attacks for several years. I'm usually able to control them myself. Guess I'm just a bit strung out." She said through gasping breaths. She put her head down between her knees, and she retched a bit. Scorpius moved her several feet to the side, and before he could swipe his wand to clean up the mess, Rose got hers out and the mostly mucus vomit faded away with a few green sparks.

"Don't try to be a hero. I looked out for myself when no one else did at my worst times. I can handle a little vomit." She said sharply, before standing up shakily on her own. Scorpius quickly stood up and put a hand on her back to steady her. Rose just shot him a dirty look but let him keep his palm there as they walked back towards the castle in silence. They had just reach the doorway to the locker rooms when Scorpius finally spoke up.

"I can teach you how to ride a broom," he offered. Rose had regained her bearings for the most part by this point.

"I don't have a broomstick." She said back, not wanting to go back into the the whole Quidditch topic.

"You can use mine - it's a Lightningsweep. I can borrow Fr-Rocco's broom," Scorpius said. He could tell that Rose didn't quite trust him. He didn't quite trust himself - but for some reason, he was just tired of fighting with Rose, and he could tell Rose was tired of fighting with him. Their petty feud had really lost it's necessity when they lost their immaturity last summer.

"And why would I ever want to ride your fucking broomstick?" Rose said, obviously tired of this conversation and wanting to go to bed. And she obviously did not realize the innuendo of her question until Scorpius quirked an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Well, I can assure you, you would _definitely_ want to." He whispered in her ear - he just couldn't help himself. Rose's cheeks turned slightly red.

"Oh don't act so innocent. Besides, my offer still stands."

"You fuckin' perv," Rose muttered under her breath.

"I won't beg, but I will say I'm pretty good - you said so yourself! But I get it if you are intimidated. I don't mean to paint with a broad brush, but Slytherins are well known to be better fliers than Gryffindors," Scorpius said cheekily, leaning against the stone archway. Rose let out a laugh and leaned against the opposite side of the arch.

"Oh all right then, if you're gonna make it about house pride," She said, crossing her arms and walking up until they were only a few centimeters away, "If you win tomorrow, you get the honor of trying to teach my how to fly. If Gryffindor wins, you have to stand up on Slytherin table in the Great Hall with nothing on but your boxers and declare your love for McGonagall." Scorpius smirked and leaned a little closer so their faces were very close.

"I think you just want to see me in my boxers. You know, you don't need to dare me to see me naked," Scorpius said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Only if I ever need to throw up my entire stomach. No, I just want everyone to see your pathetic 'crush' on McGonagall," she laughed back, not trying to move her face back - in fact, if anything, she leaned even closer, her sneer twisting into a grin. A tension-filled silence filled the air, the two of them close enough to kiss - or, as either of them would have told you, head-butt distance apart. Scorpius spit on his palm and stuck it out to Rose.

"All right, I'll take that deal. Let's shake on it." Without hesitation, Rose hacked a glob on her palm as well and grabbed Scorpius' hand. After a long, strong handshake with unwavering eye contact, Rose broke their hands apart and starting walking down the hallway to the Gryffindor Locker Room, leaving Scorpius leaned against the archway.

"Wait, my cloak!" Scorpius said, remembering that she was wearing the expensive gift from his grandmother. Rose's gait didn't even waver.

"You'll get it back if we have our flying lesson. Do your worst, Malfoy."

"Even my worst is better than Gryffindor's best!" Scorpius called after Rose. Her laugh could be heard echoing around the stone tunnel for several seconds after she reached the Gryffindor locker room. Scorpius just shook his head with a little laugh, staring out the archway into the freezing night before mounting his broom and taking one last lap around the Hogwarts grounds before heading in for the night.

 **A/N: That's a wrap! I'm going to try toget at least one more chapter out before school starts, but I only have a week left, so I can't promise often updates after then : &. **

**As always, review, follow, and favorite!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 8/23/16**

 **Updated: 9/10/16**


	15. In Which QUIDDITCH BITCHES

**A/N: Sup dudes, how's life? I have gone back and have edited the rest of my chapters to smooth out any inconsistencies that I have accidentally made. Here's the next chapter, "In Which QUIDDITCH BITCHES". Yup, that's the title. And guys, this is my longest chapter yet, so yay!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"Even then, Slytherin could do better than Gryffindor!" Scorpius called after Rose. Her laugh could be heard echoing around the stone tunnel for several seconds after she reached the locker room. Scorpius just shook his head with a little laugh, staring out the archway into the freezing night before mounting his broom and taking one last lap around the Hogwarts grounds before heading in for the night._

* * *

 **Scorpius POV**

"Scorpius. Philip. Rocco. Get your BLOODY ARSES UP OR SO VOLDEMORT HELP ME, YOU THREE WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW. IT'S TIME FOR QUIDDITCH, BITCHES."

Ah, yes. That was Al. He followed up his statement with a hacking cough and a pillow thrown on each of his players' faces

"What the bloody _fuck_?"

"I swear to Merlin, I will _murder_ you."

"It's SIX in the BLOODY MORNING."

"Shut up guys. Not everyone in this room has to be up for the pre-match practice."

And that was Rocco, Philip Straiff, and Ian Cartwright in order. Oh, Scorpius was there too - custom for their year of players to sleep in the same dorm and go over plays the night before, and Scorpius wasn't about to mess with tradition.

"Sorry, mate, but you and Ruben should be used to this by now." Al just shrugged. Ian groaned from underneath the thick emerald comforter pulled over his head.

"Yeah, well it still sucks. If you all don't shut up now I won't let you use my coffee machine." Four gasps and one laugh quickly filled the room.

"You tell em, mate." Ruben Garrett called from his bed.

"Ian, you must not jest about such serious matters." Rocco said, getting up from his bed slowly, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm not kidding. Now shut up and let me sleep." Ian said, burrowing himself even further into his bed.

"Fine, but I'm still taking a triple espresso shot before we leave." Philip said, wincing as his bare feet touched the freezing stone floors.

"Get your ass up, Scorpius! Your a captain, you should be setting an example! " Al said, throwing another pillow at the motionless lump that was the Malfoy curled up in the bed. Scorpius just answered with a moan and pushed himself off his bed so he was just lying on a lump on the floor.

"Also, if you guys don't win today, I won't let you use the coffee machine," Ian murmured, already half asleep.

Nothing got the four Slytherin Quidditch mates up and ready quicker than that statement. Al smirked his thanks to Ian, and went out the door of the dorm room.

"Imma get the rest of the boys up. Save me a cup of coffee though."

~/-~/-~/-~/-

After their hour 6:30 practice was over, the Slytherin Quidditch teams cleared the pitch so the Gryffindors could have their pre-game practice, and so they could switch into their full gear before piling off to breakfast. Al had been coughing and blowing his nose the entire time, and so Scorpius, after being told to fuck off and that he most certainly would _not_ go to Madam Pomfrey, took the coaching responsibilities from the reluctant Potter so the boy could at least rest before the game. At promptly 7:52, Al and Scorpius led their nervous teams into the already full Great Hall for breakfast. Normally, the students of Hogwarts would rather scrub floors with Filch than of be up at such an ungodly hour, but this, _this_ was the day of the Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match, and holy shit, if that didn't get a person's ass up, McGonagall knows what would. Anyways, the entire Slytherin table stood up and applauded as the A and B team entered the hall, the Gryffindors scoffed and jeered, and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs - well, no one gave a shit what they thought, they weren't the focus of the match that day, now were they? The players' faces stayed grim, sitting down to eat as Al made sure that no one was filling up on junk.

"Freja, put that goddamned pancake down before I chop your hand off," Al said, intensely though with humor while slapping the young Chaser's hand. Aiko San, the fourth year B Team Seeker, quickly dropped the apple pastry she was about to eat in favor of a piece of dry toast. Al nodded appreciatively, his laugh trailing off into a coughing fit.

"Is it just me, or does Al seem particularly stressed today," Scorpius said through his bite of cereal, nudging Rocco with his elbow. The beater was being strangely quiet, though it was probably just the nerves.

"Are you kidding? He wants to impress the Wollongong Warriors and Falmouth Falcon scouts that are coming to the match today. And with Freja and Philip still not talking, he's trying to micromanage everyone else to perfection." Rocco snorted into his bowl of porridge that Al had shoved in front of and instructed him to eat. He winced and picked up a big, sloppy spoonful out of the overflowing bowl, gave a little groan and shoved it into his mouth, whimpering a bit as he did so.

"That's true, that's true," Scorpius said, though something about Rocco tipped him off.

"Is there anything wrong, Rocco?" Scorpius asked, putting down his spoon - a dangerous move, as Al hawkishly descended on anyone who stopped eating and threatened to infect them - "keep your energy up" seemed to be the only words able to come out of the nervous captain's mouth. Rocco sighed and kept scooping up more porridge.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He said shortly. Scorpius was about to press further when an icy glare from Zabini cut off any question he was about to ask.

"Suit yourself." Scorpius shrugged and picked up an apple from the basket in front of him. As he was biting into it, his eyes locked on a mane of red hair over Rocco's shoulder.

"I'll be back," Scorpius said, sliding off the bench and slipping past Al who was blowing his nose into a tissue, making some excuse about clearing his head, and walked over the alcove by the Great Hall doors. Rose Weasley was in the dark corner, furiously scratching in her leather playbook. He approached from behind, and he didn't think that Rose had even heard him approaching until she had snapped up her book, whirled around and put a wand against his throat. When she saw who it was, she relaxed and stuffed her wand into the folds of her cloak - Scorpius' cloak, that is.

"Oh. It's just you." She said, putting the book down her shirt again. Scorpius raised an snarky eyebrow at her comment.

"Just me? You aren't worried I'll steal that flimsy little playbook of yours?"

"Nope," Rose scoffed, her eyes glittering mirthfully, "I don't consider you much of a threat." Scorpius feigned hurt.

"Well excuse me, I would think I have proved quite capable from time to time," he said with mock distress. Rose just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, get over yourself, drama queen." She scoffed. Scorpius smirked and leaned against the wall.

"But anyways, I came over just to give you a fair warning about the humiliating defeat that's about to come your way."

"Hmmm, I don't think so. I rather believe that you won't ever wear this cloak again - I must admit, I've grown quite attached to it already. It's very comfortable, you know." Rose smiled smugly, raising an eyebrow. Scorpius leaned in a bit, rising to what some might call bait, but he liked to call it a challenge.

"Oh, I think that tonight, I'm going to have that cloak back _and_ you're going to be riding my broomstick until kingdom come," he said suggestively. Instead of blushing or getting angry like she usually did, Rose just stepped closer and gave a little smirk.

"Hm, I see. I hope you're into the kinky stuff then." She inquired with equal, if not more suggestiveness. Her hand snaked up to the leather breastplate of the armor that Scorpius wore, hooking a finger underneath and pulling him a bit closer. A game of teasing was afoot. Scorpius, taken aback if for only a moment, replied smoothly.

"Most definitely." He said, leaning even closer, his eye slowly traveling up and down her body deliberately, hoping it would make her uncomfortable.

"Spanking?"

"Of course," Scorpius grinned, his voice deepening slightly. Rose studied his face for a second with a smirk matching his before leaning back and letting her mouth curve into a wolfish grin.

"Then you are just gonna love the ass whipping you'll get today when Gryffindor wins." She said, before winking and releasing her hold on Scorpius before turning on her heel and walking away with swaying hips to the Gryffindor table. Scorpius laughed out loud, running a hand through his hair.

"Well played, Weasley, well played." He said under his breath, before heading back to the Slytherin table where Al was going over plays with Philip.

"You all right, mate?" Al said, obviously worried his only A team player who didn't seem to be in a snit nor sick was having a mental breakdown. Scorpius glances at the determined, grim faces of his team, scanning to see if any of them noticed his exchange with Weasley. Thankfully, it seemed as if everyone was too concentrated on their own shit than to look into dark corners of the Hall.

"Just fine, cap. We're gonna kick ass today. I just know it." Scorpius said, clapping the Potter boy's shoulder. As he looked around at the faces once more, he noticed a strange look on Rocco's face. It was only slight, and was over in a minute, but it didn't go over Scorpius' head. Maybe he had to focus on the match now, but Rocco would be a fool to think that he could get out of telling Scorpius what was wrong.

~/-~/-~/-~/-

"-and Mary, you bash the heads out of my cousins. Every single player on the B team is going to have airtime today. Gryffindor is going _down_!" Al wrapped up his passionate speech to the B team with a fist pounding against the bench in the locker room and a hacking cough. After a rousing round of applause and check to see that Al was okay, all of the eyes laid on Scorpius. Though he had already given such speeches earlier this season, his throat stuck every time. He looked at each face that stood in a circle around him, and wished he was as good with motivating words out loud as Al was.

"Guys, I just _know_ we're gonna win. We have to kick the shit out of them. We just have to. I expect all of you to get over any personal feelings you have with each other, and just work. Together. It's not everyday we go against Gryffindor, and we all know that they always have a kickass team. However, I want you to treat this just like any match. No extra pressure just because the opposing team wears a red jersey. All right? Hands in." A rustle of robes and moving brooms sounded as 14 hands piled on top of each other in the middle of the circle. Al and Scorpius yelled together, the adrenaline filling their veins at the same time.

"S FOR THE SLYTHERIN, SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN! SLYTHERWHO?"

"SLYTHERIN!" The rest of the team called back.

"WE GONNA WHAT?"

"WE GONNA WIN!" Excited yells echoed through the locker room as the team piled on top of each other to get out the door and on to the pitch.

The morning sunlight pierced the eyes of Scorpius as he ran out on to the pitch, the sudden swell of cheering that occurred when the Slytherin team came out rang in his ears. A smile worked his way across his face and he raised a fist in the air. Nothing made him feel more in control, more powerful, more _ready_ then the moments before the whistle blew.

"Aaaaand there's the Slytherin Quidditch teams! A Team chasers are third year Freja Marijeson, who we have seen to be a prodigy and who already has club offers streaming in, sixth year Marina Santiago, who snagged a spot on the A team just last year and has been a star of the team since, and seventh year Philip Straiff who is considering offers to join several teams in the rookie league already. That trio looks ready to go out their and devastate that pitch. Seventh years Keeper Corianne Lee and Beater Rocco Zabini both have revenge in their eyes - we can all remember that humiliating defeat of the Slytherins last year, Gryffindors winning the match 290-80. However, it seems as if Captains Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy are out for blood, and with this all star A team, there's no doubt in my mind that they'll do their damnedest to win." Roslyn Marks shouted over the roar of the crowd. All of a sudden, another large cheer erupted, emnating from the Gryffindor stands as their team burst out of the locker rooms.

"Captains Roxanne Weasley and Bellona Wiel lead the pack of Gryffindors running out of to the pitch. This team is looking to defend their two time title as Quidditch Cup champions, and if they don't have the perfect lineup, I'll eat my cloak." The entire Slytherin House began booing, as the Gryffindor stands did when the Slytherin team came out, and it was just absolute chaos.

"Gryffindor's A team consists of seventh year Wiel and Weasley with sixth year Elara Shacklebolt as Chasers. These three have been together since the captains' third year and Shacklebolt's second, working their way up from the B team to the A team two years ago. Best friend seventh years Linda Pierpoint and Derek Underwood joined forces as Beaters three years ago on the B team, and last year hooked a spot on the A team. Fourth year Hugo Weasley is the youngest Keeper to make the Gryffindor A team in years, Teddy Lupin being the last. He and cousin seventh year Seeker Fred Weasley just moved their way up to the A team this year. Fred Weasley played Seeker on the B team, a position he held for three years, beginning his third year. He then split the position with former captain James Potter last year. He is certainly primed and ready for this match, and between him and Scorpius Malfoy, well, I really just don't know who will catch the Snitch first." Roslyn shouted out the stats of the Gryffindor team as the Slytherin stands began to chant that Muggle song "We Will Rock You". The stomps and claps echoed around the entire pitch. In response, the Gryffindor team began blasting and singing along to "Who Let the Dogs Out", and basically everything just dissolved into chaos. The A teams positioned themselves across from each other in the middle of the pitch. Scorpius locked eyes with Fred and winked. In response Fred just grinned and shook his head.

"CAPTAINS, HERE!" Coach Medeira yelled. The four captains walked to the center of the pitch. Scorpius and Bellona locked hands, glaring at each other. However, it was nowhere near as intense as the pair of cousins to their side. Al and Roxanne were locked in a death glare, and Scorpius could have sworn that he could hear the bones cracking in their hands. The cousins were close, but also extremely competitive with each other. Eventually, Medeira got tired of their shit and pushed the two apart. The captains walked back to their respective lineups and settled for just glowering at each other from a distance.

"PLAYERS, MOUNT YOUR BROOMS!" A swell of cheering hit Scorpius, drowning out the sounds of robes swishing around as the players got on their brooms. He looked around at the sea of faces in the stands, and was surprised when he locked eyes with Rose, of all people. Not his parents, not his friends, but Rose. Her hair was down, like last night, and a moving, roaring, and clawing red and gold lion was painted onto her face. She was dressed in her Gryffindor scarf, cloak, and hat. When she caught Scorpius' gaze she had stopped cheering and given him a wink. Scorpius grinned.

"THERE WILL BE NO FOUL PLAY. A CLEAN, FAIR GAME WOULD BE NICE SO DON'T BE THAT ASSHOLE WHO MESSES IT U FOR EVERYONE ELSE." Al's coughing caught his attention. Shit. This was a bad sign.

"THE BALLS ARE RELEASED IN THREE. TWO. ONE." The screams in the stands swelled again as twenty eight feet pushed off the ground.

"And that's the push off! Gryffindor takes possession of the Quaffle with Wiel, who passes to Shackelbolt who double back around towards her own goal to avoid a well aimed Bludger by Potter and passes the Quaffle off to Weasley who shoots - and is blocked by Corianne Lee!"

Scorpius allowed himself a split second of celebration then continued to scan the pitch. The sky was cloudy, certainly not ideal for his job, and the cold was making his eyes water. He and Fred were hovering a hundred feet above the rest of the game, waiting for a sign of the Snitch on opposite ends of the pitch. Fred gave Scorpius an exaggerated salute, while the latter gave a little bow back. However, the two turned their sights and attention back to the pitch below - sure, they were friends off the pitch, but during this game, they were opponents.

"Marijeson gains control of the Quaffle, who passes to Santiago, back to Marijeson who passes to Straiff - and misses the pass! Looks as if something is off with the Slytherin Chasers. Anyways, Shacklebolt gets possesion weaves in and around, and - the poorly aimed Bludger misses from Albus Potter, who seems to be getting over a cold, he's coughing up a lung right now . . ." Scorpius glanced over at Al at that statement, who was indeed doubled over on his broom coughing. However, he waved away assistance from Coach Medeira and continued playing.

"Shacklebolt weaves around the stand, passes to Wiel, to Weasley, back to Shacklebolt, and SCORES, which mean Gryffindor is leading this game ten minutes in 10-0! It seems as if Slytherin is off their game today. However, the Seekers are still circling around above the pitch, so at this point, its still anyones game."

"Santiago gets possession, who passes to Straiff, back to Santiago, who dodges a Bludger from Underwood - she shoots - and an INCREDIBLE block from Hugo Weasley, that was a pretty good shot there though, Gryffindor leads 10-0 still . . ."

"Weasley gets possession of the Quaffle, who gets it to Wiel, who shoots and - SCORES AGAIN, Gryffindor leading by 20 now . . ."

This trend continued, with the slightly off-balanced Slytherin Chasers attempting to score, but always getting blocked by Hugo Weasley. The Gryffindor Beaters kept the Chasers dancing around, never letting them get any respite. The Gryffindor Chasers were attempting to score fairly often, blocked every now and then by Corianne, who was quickly tiring from the constant bombardment. Sometimes, the Chasers sacrificed shots for safety by a hammered Bludger by Rocco or Al.

"Gryffindor leading an embarrassing 70-0, still no sign of the Snitch . . ." Scorpius signaled a time-out to Medeira, and the Slytherin A team regrouped at the sidelines.

"Guys, this is bad. We are getting our asses handed to us out there, and we are only twenty minutes in."

"It's not our fault!" Marijeson complained, "Hugo keeps blocking every shot, and Philip refuses to pass the Quaffle to me, even when he is surrounded by Chasers and has no way to score!"

"Not true! You're the one hogging the Quaffle - all because you're Miss Amazing, already having two offers to join teams-" Al had had enough of their shit.

"You two are out for the next thirty minutes. Henry, Richard, tag in," he gestured to two of the B team Chasers. Freja and Philip looked like they wanted to protest, by they were cut off by a sharp glare by their captains.

"Corianne, I don't know what's up but I think you need to gather some strength - I don't blame you, those three Chasers have been together forever, and it's hard to block some of their shots. Anyways, my point is that you're tired, and Maxon is gonna sub in for you." Corianne just nodded wearily and sat down on the bench.

"Al, are you sure you don't want Sundari tagging you out? Just for a quick rest?" Scorpius asked his friend quietly as the three new B team members joined the group.

"Nah, I still-" Al coughed violently, "-I still have another ten minutes on me." Scorpius nodded and spoke to the new additions.

"Maxon, you're gonna get pummeled by Quaffles. I don't care if you break a bone or puncture a lung, that's all fixable. We can never have this game back, so do what it takes." The fourth year Keeper nodded and straightened up a bit taller.

"Henry, Richard, Marina, you all better start scoring some goals or practice is gonna be hell for you this coming week." Al said before collapsing to his knees and coughing. Rocco dropped down next to him, and spoke a couple words to him. Al straightened up eventually with Rocco, his face stone.

"I'm going to go for the next fifteen minutes, then I will sub out with Sundari. I'll try to do the most damage I can before stopping. I'm sorry, I'm-" he blew his nose and coughed, "I'm just too sick right now." The team nodded in understanding and Scorpius signaled to Medeira that they were ready to go back in. The Gryffindor and Slytherin teams flew out from the sidelines, and began playing again at the start of the whistle.

"Looks as if both teams have done some changing. Gryffindor Beater Derek Underwood seems to have strained a muscle, and so Nicholas Powell subbed in for him, and Roxanne Weasley is staying on the sidelines so Omar Shafiq has some fly-time now. Slytherin Chasers Freja Marijeson and Philip Straiff have been pulled in favor of Henry Campbell and Richard Murphy, and Seeker Corianne Lee, who has taken quite a pounding, has Maxon Lark taking her place on the field. We'll see how this changes the game!" Scorpius and Fred rose again over the heads of the crowds as Medeira blowed his whistle.

"Quaffle taken into possession by Campbell, who weaves in and out, around the stand, out to Santiago, who shoots a backhand shot and – Hugo Weasley knocks it out of the way yet again! Gryffindor takes possession, Shacklebolt passing it to Wiel, who flied around the Slytherin hoops, passes to Shafiq who makes a shot, which JUST manages to be blocked by Lark with a quick save to the bottom right side hoop. Powell hits a Bludger to Pierpoint, but is INTERCEPTED by Zabini, who sets it towards Potter, who SMACKS it towards Shacklebolt, who had possession of the Quaffle. Damn, professor, that looks like it hurt. Shacklebolt, who looks like she has a broken arm or collarbone, signals in third year Clio Hornsby to take her place from the sidelines to take her place – mediwizards rush to meet her, and they are taking her off the field. Murphy now has possession, passes it to Santiago, to - oh! Intercepted by Shafiq, who is now encircled by the Slytherin Chasers so he can't get an open shot. The quartet is flying all around, but it seems as if Shafiq is about to shake – no! After brilliant interception of a flying Bludger by Pierpoint from Potter, _that_ was not easy, Zabini _hammers_ Shafiq in the side, is knocked off his broom, and is cushioned by the handiwork of our mediwizards. These are great plays, but it is certainly tiring the dream Beater duo – Potter looks like he's about to fall off his broom! Anyways, Theodore Fleet takes his spot . . ." The game continued, and while the Gryffindor team was certainly kept more on their toes by the Bludgers flying around and weren't regularly scoring, Marina, Henry, and Richard were just unable to get past Hugo. That kid was like a brick wall. Scorpius, who had been circling slowly above the pitch, steered his broom towards Rocco. He kept his eyes peeled for the Snitch, but he spoke to Rocco quickly.

"We gotta get Hugo out. Start trying to get him, don't focus as much on the Chasers anymore. I'll loop around and tell Al." Rocco nodded and whacked a Bludger away that was rocketing towards Scorpius' head. Scorpius took a precious second to move his eyes from the pitch to flash a grateful at Rocco.

"Thanks man."

"No problem. No go tell Al. He's about to pass out on me."

Scorpius looped under the speeding Chasers to get to the Potter boy who was across the pitch. Doing the same scanning-but-talking thing he did with Rocco, Scorpius said,

"Change target to Hugo, we need to punch him out." Al, despite his sickly pallor, allowed for a grin.

"Gramma Molly's gonna have my ass if I hurt him too bad – I'll settle for a concussion, eh?" Al doubled over on his broom coughing, a deep, hacking wheeze. Scorpius ripped his eyes from the field.

"Al! Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, alarmed. Al nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, eyes on the-"

"AND IT SEEMS AS IF FRED WEASLEY HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH! HE'S MAKING A DIVE TOWARDS THE GROUND!"

"Shit." Scorpius cursed and rocketed his broom downwards. He couldn't see the Snitch, but Fred was getting closer and closer to the ground. Scorpius sped up until he was right behind his best friend, fifty feet above the ground and the distance closing fast. Fred looked back, grinned, and winked.

"Can't believe you fell for that one." Scorpius was confused for the hundredth of a second before Fred pulled up his broom into a deep vertical rise.

"Fucking fucking shit shit shit." Scorpius wasn't sure if he said that out loud, screamed it, or was just thinking it, but he jerked his broom up, praying that he wouldn't collide with the ground. He bared his teeth and screamed at the exertion to try to pull his broom up, which was most definitely resisting the sudden change in direction. He was twenty feet above the ground and could feel the wind whipping in his ears, seventeen feet, he felt something pop in his right shoulder from the reverse force of the broom, thirteen feet he looked out on the crowds and was sure he was going to die, ten . . .

"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" Several underclassmen gasped and covered their ears at Roslyn Marks' colorful comment. McGonagall, usually one to berate such language, was just standing up shocked, her hand over her mouth. Roslyn regained her bearings and cleared her throat.

"It seems as if Fred Weasley pulled off the Wronski Feint, bring Scorpius Malfoy close enough to the ground to crash before he safely pulled up. Malfoy, Merlin knows how, managed to pull himself into an incredible save, but it seems as if he is going to need to come off the field with that arm – looks as if it's a popped shoulder . . ." Cheers exploded, and Roslyn continued to shout.

"Our referees have all check in, and these are the final distances of Weasley's Wronski Feint: Weasley pulled an incredible twenty feet, while Scorpius got ten feet! Both of those are in the professional ranges, and even then, not many can pull it off!" Cheers erupted from both the Gryffindor and Slytherin stands – and the Hufflepuffs, because they cheered everyone – as Scorpius glided his broom down to the grass. His shoulder hurt like hell – Roslyn was right, he probably did dislocate it.

"YOU OKAY, SON?" Coach Medeira yelled into Scorpius' ear and clapping him on the back. Scorpius gasped, and Medeira pulled away with a grimance.

"SORRY BOUT THAT." He left quicly as Madam Pomfrey shooed him away.

"Oh dear, you will be fine, but I will bring you up to the Hospital WIng -" Scorpius cut her off with a gruff nod.

"No, just mend it here. Fred's able to pull a Wronski, Aiko just wouldn't beat him out in a death match at a Snitch Sighting. She can hold her own for now, but I'm gonna need to go back in." Scorpius said through gasps.

"That is the most absurd thing I have every heard." Madam Pomfrey scoffed, "Up you get, we're going to the Hospital."

"No, Madam Pomfrey, please!" Scorpius said, holding his arm. The match was in a time out, and everyone was watching him.

"Oh, fine." Madam Pomfrey said, winking, "I suppose I always am a Slythering at heart, so I'll jut patch you up. But expect you to check into the Hospital Wing after the game!"

"Of course." Scorpius smiled a charming grin. Madam Pomfrey just rolled her eyes and brought Scorpius to the benches.

"Aiko, go ahead. Ella, I want you to go sub out Marina. She's gotta be dying right now." Scorpius directed the fourth year girls. They nodded and took off while Marina flew in to the benches. She threw Scorpius an axhuasted, grateful look. A whistle blew and the game resumed.

"Well this is an interesting development! Nearly all of the Slytheirn team on the field now is the B team, and they seem to be holding a respectable 90-O, considered they've only let in two goals in thirty minutes!" Roslyn yelled over the noise of the crowds.

"Sundari, Mary, be ready to tag out Al and Rocco. Hopefully, their job will be done soon, hopefully." Scorpius grimance at a particularly hard jab to his shoulder by Madam Pomfrey as she popped the arm back into its socket. He looked over at the sulking Freja and Philip to his right.

"I hope you two have fixed your issues, because I'm subbing you two in for the Chasers out now once Al and Rocco do what they need to do." They nodded and straightened up. Scorpius took off his armor on his right arm while Pomfrey used scissors to take the arm off the velvet Quidditch shirt. from around his swollen joint

"Hey!" Scorpius protested at the sound of ripping seams. Madam Pomfrey silenced him with a glare, and set to work on his shoulder. Scorpius gasped when he saw the purple and blue skin, and swollen. He gritted his teeth and turned his eyes to the game. The Slytherin Chasers were holding their own, but they certainly weren't dominating the game. Fred and Aiko were circling above the pitch, and Maxon was holding the hoops well. However, it was Rocco and Al who held his attention. The two were working together effortlessly, going 110% at all times. They were gonna crash soon - Scorpius would bank on 10, maybe fifteen more minutes. However, the Gryffindor Beaters, Pierpoint and Powell, were starting to catch on to their movements towards Al, and one of them stayed near his side at all times.

"A bludger towards Hugo Weasley was smacked away by Pierpoint, only for it to be smacked back by Potter, and it is beat off again! Hornsby has the Quaffle, her pass intercepted by Ella Chopra, who shoots, but Hugo Weasley _catches_ it and passes it out to his cousin Roxanne, who flies it to the Gryffindor hoops - she shoots - SCORES with a great slingshot move. Lark throws it to Murphy, who passes it to Campbell, who has to dodge a Bludger and is knocked off course. Potter hammers it towards Rocco, who looks as if he is going to hit it towards Hugo Weasley, but is surprisingly off the mark shooting a couple feet wide of the Keeper's protector, Pierpoint, and - wait no! Potter is behind the Keeper and whacks it back - AND A SHOT TO THE BACK OF HUGO WEASLEY! Hugo Weasley falls off his broom, cushioned by the mediwizards, and is taken off the field. It looks like some broken ribs, will definitely _not_ be in for the rest of the game!" Gasps and jeers arose from the Gryffindor stands, while whoops erupted from Scorpius and the rest of the Slytherin House. Pomfrey held him down firmly, forcing a nasty potion down his throat. The burning sensation in his throat spread to his injured shoulder, where the pain dissipated after a few seconds. Scorpius flexed and stretched it, thanked Pomfrey, and signaled to Sundari, Mary, Freja and Philip.

"Ready?" He asked. His four team mates nodded. Scorpius let a grin make its way across his face and he signaled Aiko down. Al and Rocco flew down to the benches. They both crawled off their brooms and rolled onto their backs, panting.

"Well, let's go then." The four B teamers and their captain pushed off the ground and onto the pitch.

"It seems as if there has been another change in the Slytherin and Gryffindor lineups - taking Hugo Weasley's place is Calypso Fay, and Theodore Fleet is tagging out Bellona Wiel. On Slytherin, Beaters Potter and Zabini - who have been working their asses into the ground for the past twenty minutes with unusual zeal, finally have subbed out with Sundari Kaleka and Mary Horan respectively. Freja Marejison and Philip Straiff are coming back in for Richard Murphy and Henry Campbell. And finally, Aiko San, after a brief stint as active Seeker is subbed out by Scorpius Malfoy, the victim of a nasty shoulder injury with Weasley's Wronski Feint earlier this match. Hopefully, he'll be fine for the rest of the game." Scorpius flexed his shoulder as he rose above the rest of the players, meeting Fred. They both kept their eyes on the pitch while they conversed.

"No hard feelings, mate?"

"Hard feelings? That was incredible!" Scorpius replied. Fred smirked.

"Good. 'Cause I'm still gonna kick your ass."

"Mmmm, I don't think so." Fred just laughed, and the two split to opposite sides of the field. Scorpius tuned in every once in awhile to check in on the scores.

" . . . Marijeson and Straiff working together to put the score at 90-15 Gryffindor . . ."

"Straiff scoring again, putting score at 90-40 Gryffindor . . . "

"Fleet and Weasley score, 100-50 Gryffindor, the Slytherins are starting to creep up a bit, but Gryffindor is still winning this game. With these evenly matched Seekers, it will probably just be which one is lucky enough to be on the side of the field the Snitch is on when it is spotted . . ."

Speak of the devil, and the devil will arrive, because just then, Scorpius noticed a flash of gold right smack between the two of them. Fred and Scorpius locked eyes for a split second before breaking into lightning-fast speed, each hurtling towards the tiny ball of metal before it disappeared again.

"THE SNITCH HAS BEEN SPOTTED! THE TWO SEEKERS ARE HURTLING AT EACH OTHER, PROBABLY A HUNDRED FEET PER SECOND! WHO'S GONNA GET THIS ONE? IT LOOKS AS IF MALFOY IS PULLING - NO, WAIT WEASL- OH I JUST CANT TELL!"

For a brief moment, the roar of the crowds, the sounds of the wind from the action still going on around him, the sound of his heart thrumming in his throat, turned to silence, time stopped, and everything froze. And maybe his life was just some shittily written fanfiction, but the most cliché thing happened. He let his eyes wander for a brief second, and they immediately locked with bright hazel ones. Rose gave a snarky smile and flipped him off. _Oh, I will get this Snitch, or so help me, I will never live it down and I will have to ask McGonagall out in my boxers_ , Scorpius thought to himself. He let his eyes snap back to the Snitch, now only a tantalizing fifteen feet away. The roars of the crowd resumed, and the wind rushed past his face again. He reached out his arm at the same time as Fred's, the distance closing.

Ten feet . . .

Nine feet . . .

Eight . . .

Seven . . .

Six . . .

 _Five_ . . .

 _FOUR_ . . .

 _THREE_ . . .

 _ **TWO**_ . . .

 **A/N: Ehhhhhh wassupppppp. I know its been awhile, but I have started school, and fucking hell am I busy. I'm going to try to write this next part soon, because it was originally supposed to be a part of this chapter, but it would be way too long for this story's format, so I'm cutting it off here. However, I'm still inspired to write the chapter's plot, so _hopefully_ it will be out soon, but no promises. Love ya as always!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 9/14/16**


	16. In Which There's Snitches and Kisses

**A/N: Ahahaha I feel evil. Cliffhanger? I hope so! I didn't get a huge response from last chapter - was it okay? Are you guys still into this story? Also, check out the new image for the story, it's by a Deviant Artist Lilla Selle, and her portrayals of Rose and Scorpius look _exactly_ as I picture the characters, it's scary. Anyways, let me know in the reviews while I introduce Chapter 16, "In Which There's Snitches and Kisses"**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"_ Oh, I will get this Snitch, or so help me, I will never live it down and I will have to ask McGonagall out in my boxers, _Scorpius thought to himself. He let his eyes snap back to the Snitch, now only a tantalizing fifteen feet away. The roars of the crowd resumed, and the wind rushed past his face again. He reached out his arm at the same time as Fred's, the distance closing._ _Ten feet . . ._ _Nine feet . . ._ _Eight . . ._ _Seven . . ._ _Six . . ._ _Five . . ._ _FOUR . . ._ _THREE . . . __**TWO** . . ."_

* * *

 **Scorpius POV**

One. Scorpius felt his heartbeat slow as his fingers curled around the golden ball just a quarter second before Fred's closed on empty air. The two of them crashed together, and they hurtled to the ground until they both pulled up on their brooms slightly so they landed with a soft tumble to the ground.

Screams erupted.

The Slytherin House song blasted.

Green and silver glitter were bombed onto the crowd.

Basically, shit got real. Scorpius stand up and pumped his fist in the air, chanting along with the "We are the Champions" song that was playing. Al and Rocco were running at breakneck speed (which was considerably harder than usual because Al was sick and the both of them were completely exhausted from their playing) and crashed into Scorpius. All three of them tumbled to the ground, the pig pile soon joined by the rest of the players. The Gryffindor fliers had come down to meet their equally disappointed team. Fred gave Scorpius a little smile before joining the Procession of Shame back to the Gryffindor locker rooms.

"-Slytherin won 200-100 due to Scorpius Malfoy grabbing that Snitch! Party will be in the Slytherin common room late, where we can celebrate this _extremely_ close match!" Roslyn Marks futilely tried to yell over the roar emanating from the Slytherin stands. The whole team stood up, took a bow, and began jogging back to locker rooms. Scorpius took the end of the pack, and just before he was about to disappear into the tunnel, he looked back on to the pitch. He saw Rose just exit the stand, looking a little sick as she made eye contact with him. Scorpius gave a cheeky grin and a wink before turning back around for the locker rooms.

* * *

After a long, hot shower and plenty of probing at the nasty bruise that encircled his shoulder, Scorpius toweled off his hair with his left arm and dressed in the extra set of clothes he brought. He whimpered slightly when he had to pull the long sleeve T-shirt over his right, swollen shoulder. He threw his broom into the hidden entrance of his private study and headed up to the Hospital Wing as Madam Pomfrey had insisted that he come after the game ends so she could take a better look at his shoulder. Rocco had helped Al up to the Wing right after the game, as the boy had looked ready to drop dead at any second. Scorpius passed many students, some of them Slytherin and basically fawning over him for the win, others Gryffindors who glared at him with enough intensity to melt him, and some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who really didn't give a shit either way, they just wanted to go to the party. Scorpius pushed open the doors to the Hospital Wing, wincing as he felt his injured shoulder pop and twinge with pain. Four of the beds were already taken by Quidditch players, three with Gryffindor and the other filled by Al. Of course, there were also the customary extreme hangovers after Friday night cases, and then the few who were actually sick. All in all, at least twenty beds were taken up, and the medical staff seemed extremely busy. Madam Pomfrey was bustling around with the help of the mediwizards who were interning at Hogwarts. Despite all the movement and visitors, the Hospital Wing had a quiet that was only present in a nurse's office. Rocco and Zak, Al's boyfriend, were huddled around his bedside. Al himself was looking a little better, with some color in his cheeks and he was sipping some soup out of a cup. Some of the Gryffindor players were huddled around Omar Shafiq and Elara Shacklebolt. He noticed Rose Weasley sitting next to Hugo's bed. The latter looked fine, but Rose was still grabbing his hand and talking with him worriedly. Or rather, talking _at_ him.

"Hugie-Bear are you _sure_ you're okay? Because that was an extremely hard hit to your back!"

"Merlin's balls, it's _Hugo_ now, and-"

"Because Al and Rocco are right there, I can murder them now-"

"You really need to stop-"

"Or so help me I will castrate them if your concussion is more serious than Pomfrey says-"

"Rose, seriously-"

"Are you hungry? There's some food in the cabinet over there-"

"No Rose, I'm really not -"

"You know what, I'll go get you whatever's over there, something healthy, an apple, or maybe some soup?"

"Rose, really, I'm fine-"

"I'll be right back, I'll be over there if you need me!" Rose said before standing up and rushing to the opposite side of the room. Hugo just sighed with a little smile. A young mediwizard just noticed Scorpius standing awkwardly in the corner and sat him down on the bed next to Hugo. A couple of the Gryffindors gave him a dirty look, but Scorpius just gave them a little smirk and a wave. He then turned his attention to the young boy sitting next to him.

"Sorry about that hit, Hugo. But you gotta admit, we wouldn't have won the game if we didn't get you out." Scorpius said with a little smile. Hugo Weasley gave a smirk that could rival that of Scorpius', hell, that could rival that of Rose's.

"No hard feelings, dude. I think I held out pretty damn well. For a fourth year, I mean." Hugo said with fake modesty. Scorpius grinned, and the two fist bumped right as Rose was coming back with a tray full of healthy, Pomfrey-approved snacks. As soon as she noticed Scorpius, she slammed the tray down on the table next to Hugo.

"First, modesty is a virtue Hugo, stop bragging. You weren't that good - you were lagging on your left round about defenses. Second, don't touch that filthy swine, Hugo. You'll catch herpes." She said with great malice. Hugo shrank slightly back into his pillow, but Scorpius just laughed.

"Obviously not quite over the fact that Slytherin won, I see." Scorpius said with a wink, lying back into his bed and stretching his good arm behind his head.

"Well excuse me if I don't take a cheap shot at my brother kindly."

"Rose, I said before, _I'm fine_ -"

"I think you're just mad at your loss at the bet." Scorpius said. Rose's eyes glinted steel as Hugo perked up at the fact that his sister lost at something.

"I didn't lose anything. Hugo, I am perfect and can never be bested." Rose said.

"Surrreeeee Rose, sure. It's too late, I know that you lost at something." Hugo said gleefully, pointing at his older sister. Rose just scoffed and pushed her brother's face into a pillow.

"Nonsense. Scorpius, stop spreading libel about me. My little brother will not look up to me anymore." Rose said, humor lacing her voice. Scorpius laughed, wincing slightly as he felt his shoulder tug in pain. Rose noticed his discomfort, and moved from her brother's bedside.

"Hugo, get some sleep, you need your rest."

"Awww come on Rose, it's the middle of the afternoon, it's too light out for me to sleep!" Rose rolled her eyes and flicked her wand. A sleep mask appeared on Hugo's face, much to his shock.

"Now shut up and go to sleep, little brother."

"I'm still like a foot taller than you." Hugo grumbled, but he settled into his bed and turned on his side facing away from Scorpius and Rose.

"All right, let me take a look." Rose said, her arms folded and her foot tapping.

"Huh?" Scorpius said stupidly. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled a chair up next to Scorpius' bed.

"Look around you. It's gonna be a while before anyone is able to come and help you, and I have some amount of training in first aid from when I've interned with Yvonne's mom at St. Mungo's last summer."

"Oh, uh, okay." Scorpius rolled up his sleeve, wincing as it caught on the swelling. Rose watched him struggle with getting it off from around his shoulder then gently placed a hand on his lower arm to stop him. She grabbed a pair of scissors from a nearby first aid kit and cut the sleeve off.

"Wha- _excuse you_ , what the fuck? This was one of my nicest casual shirts - I only brought four to Hogwarts!" Scorpius said holding on to the tatters of his right sleeve. Rose didn't even look up as she inspected his black and blue shoulder.

"Then I'll cut up the other three, shut up, you monumental asshole." She gave his shoulder a little poke and Scorpius restrained a scream. Now that the adrenaline had really worn off, his arm felt like it was going to fall off, but was determined to do all the damage it could before it left. Rose looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a lot worse than you've let on, right?" Rose asked. Scorpius nodded. Rose sighed and lied him back completely in the bed and walked up to the bureau next to the pillow. Scorpius turned his head so half his face was in the pillow and the other half was looking at Rose. And, well, shit, he was a teenage boy, and he was eye level with Rose's undeniably attractive body, so he can say that she definitely looked good. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and was wearing a Gryffindor jersey - probably her brother's - that was several sizes too big for her. Her leggings were tucked into her knee-high boots and some green glitter, despite obvious scrubbing, some green glitter was flecked around her face and on her clothes. Scorpius spotted his cloak that she had stolen draped over a nearby chair, also with green sparkles on it. Rose stepped back with a small bottle in her hand. She conjured a small goblet of pumpkin juice and levitated it towards Scorpius, who took the hint and grabbed it with his good hand.

"Drink this. It's gonna be nasty going down, so have it with the pumpkin juice. Your pain should disappear within ten minutes. Just don't drink anything tonight though, and don't be going around and doing handstands." She said, pouring the potion into the goblet in Scorpius' hand.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on going to the party tonight anyways - and neither are you." Scorpius said while sipping the juice. It was pretty gross, but he wasn't gagging. Rose hummed absentmindedly while washing her hands in the sink next to the cabinet.

"And you say that why?"

"I'm teaching a gorgeous girl how to ride a broom tonight." Scorpius teased, loving how Rose's cheeks flushed at his innuendo.

"Are you seriously going through with that?"

"Yup," Scorpius said, popping the 'p' before he took another gulp of the juice, "You would have made me go through with it if Gryffindor had won."

"No I wouldn't have!" Rose exclaimed, her hands on her hips indignantly.

"Don't lie, Rose." Scorpius scoffed. The tips of her eyes turned slightly red but she just rolled her eyes and was silent.

"So, meet me on the pitch in thirty minutes then," Scorpius said, sitting up and gathering the cut up strips of his sleeve. Rose didn't answer and just turned back to face her sleeping brother. Scorpius smirked and made a grab for the cloak, but Rose slapped his hand away.

"Don't you even think about it, Scor."

Scorpius grinned and made his way out the door.

* * *

Rose was right, Scorpius' shoulder stopped hurting within ten minutes after he left the infirmary. He swung his arm back and forth, poked the joint a few times and smiled. Didn't hurt at all.

He was back in his secret room in his dorm, polishing his broom and replacing a few twigs that hadn't made it in the Wronski Feint. He had replaced his cut-up shirt with a dark green, thick, woolen turtleneck. Marcie's broom was put up in the corner, fully polished and trimmed for the next match - he was going to to have Rose use this one. Marcie had allowed him to lend it to "a kid he was teaching", as he phrased it, but she didn't technically know it was Rose. He put his gloves in a saddle bag, along with some knee pads. He ran a hand through his hair, plopped a black beanie on his head, stuck his wand behind his ear, shouldered his bag, and grabbed the two brooms. He spent more time on his appearance than he did for most dates - _wait what the fuck? No. Hell no. This is most certainly_ not _a date. Especially not with Weasel._ Scorpius shook himself slightly and made his way into the Slytherin locker rooms, only to be confronted with the sight of Rocco sitting with his elbows resting in his knees on one of the benches. Scorpius froze, unsure as to what to do.

"So. Scorpius," Rocco said in a clipped tone.

"Yeah?" Scorpius said, leaning back against a wall.

"You and Weasley . . ." Rocco said trailing off.

"Hate each other."

"Are shagging." Rocco said bluntly.

"What the bloody fuck? Why does everyone think that?"

"Because it's true."

"No it's not!"

"Hmm, let me see, I would think stargazing, eye fucking, and whispered meetings with suggestive body language in the Great Hall means that you to are going out at the very least." Rocco said in his same hard voice. Scorpius gaped at him like a fish.

"Bu-b-but that's not even true!" He protested. Rocco just shook his head and stood up.

"Look, I really don't give a fuck. But I thought . . . I thought you really hated her. And I've said really fucked up things about her to you, and her . . . blood. And you know what makes me furious? It's that I just did it because I thought _you_ thought like that. It's been seven goddamned years of being best mates. The only reason I even acted liked a racist asshole in the first place was because I wanted to be friends with you! I mean, that's what my dad told me to do, to fit in, but . . . I was so, so stupid. And," Rocco pulled in a breath and sat down again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I thought that way of you. But why? Why would you act like that around her if you were actually going out?" Scorpius sat down next to Rocco, neither boy looking at each other.

"Look, we're not dating. In fact, up until a month ago, I thought I hated her. I guess I would consider her a . . . I don't know, a frenemy. But also, I never was a racist asshole. I guess I . . . I should apologize, because I thought you were more like that. I'm sorry. I just acted like a little shit like that around you because you're my friend. I really, really _desperately_ wanted to be friends with you when I was eleven, because you were like me with our parents and all. I didn't meant to act like that." The two sat in a brief silence before Rocco stood up and extended his hand.

"So . . . no more racist bigotry, agreed?" Scorpius took his hand and stood up.

"Agreed." The two had another brief silence with their hands together. At this realization, the two quickly dropped hands and avoided eye contact.

"Now I'll leave you for your date, I guess" Rocco finally said with a little grin, and he began sliding towards the door. Scorpius threw a nearby towel from the rack at the closing door.

"Were. Not. _DATING_." All Scorpius could hear was the sound of Rocco's echoing laughter. Oh dear Helena's drawers. Scorpius headed in the opposite direction, with a broom in each hand, a beanie over his messy hair and a bag slung over his shoulder. The cold air his face and he walked to the pitch. The sky had just darkened, a small patch of yellow-y red staining the west horizon. After reaching the middle of the pitch, he dropped his stuff, mounted Marcie's broom, and kicked off. She had a Silver Arrow, a new-ish model that was known for speedy and light people. He was just making sure that it would be in good shape for Rose. He took a quick couple of laps around the pitch. Rose still hadn't arrived so he did some loops followed by a couple tricks. Rose still hadn't arrived - maybe she wasn't coming. Maybe . . . well, why did he care? It didn't matter. Scorpius did twenty laps again, this time at high speed, ending in a quick loop, a glide to the ground and a jump off.

"There is no way in _hell_ I'm doing that." Scorpius turned around to the sight of Rose. She had let her hair down with a red and gold hat on top of her curls, a matching scarf wrapped twice around her neck, and the glitter completely cleared from her face. She still wore the Gryffindor jersey, jeans, and boots, and also had on a pair of leather gloves.

"Ah, what a lovely surprise, Weasley." Scorpius said with exaggerated politeness.

"Cut the shit and let's get this over with." Rose grumbled, burying her face into the folds of the cloak. It was completely dark by now, and her face was cast with shadows.

"You know, these night-time rendez vous are starting to seem like dates," Scorpius teased, though his stomach flipped a little. Rose just rolled her eyes.

"Come on. Just teach me so we can be through with this." Scorpius handed her Marcie's broom and picked up his.

"You know, you should be grateful, I'm doing you a favor mate. I'm a real knight in shining armor over here, and you might as well be pelting rotten tomatoes at me." Scorpius said with a laugh. Rose smiled and rolled her eyes. _She does that a lot_ , Scorpius though only a tad dazedly, _It's cute_.

"Oh my sweet Prince Charming, I do hope you take this outdated and sexist means of thanks as proper restitution." Rose said with fake sweetness, batted her eyelashes, and planted a small kiss on his cheek before Scorpius could even comprehend what was going on. He stumbled back in shock, and Rose started laughing.

"You're all talk Malfoy. You can't even handle a kiss on the cheek from your 'mortal enemy'!" Rose said, positively shaking with laughter.

"I was expecting something more along the lines of giving me my cloak back, but if you're willing to do more," Scorpius said, his suaveness coming back as he stepped very close to Rose. Rose just gave a little smirk/smile.

"Oh, just teach me how to fly, dumbass. There's no way I'm gonna give this back, it's too comfortable." Scorpius laughed and took a step back so he could show Rose the right way to mount the broom.

"Fine, let's get started then. I'll teach you the basic mount first. So hold it in your dominant hand, and keep your non-dominant foot on the ground - in my case, my right foot but in yours the left, and swing your dominant leg around from the front - don't try to go around the back unless you're super flexible or really tall, because you'll just trip over your own broom and look like an idiot." He demonstrated a couple times, and much to his surprise, Rose was watching him intently, actually wanting to learn.

"Holding your broom up with straight legs, you should only be six inches to a foot from to front of the broom, and so when you sit down, you'll be sitting on the front-middle part of the broom." Rose nodded at this instruction, making slight movements with her hand and legs, obviously envisioning herself mount the broom.

"Here," Scorpius handed Rose Marcie's broom. Rose held it awkwardly in her hands, so Scorpius moved around behind her. He reached his arms around her shoulders, putting her hands in the right grip.

"There. Now swing your right leg over," he said while stepping backwards. She shakily moved her right leg around the front of the broom.

"Good job! Do you want to practice that?" Scorpius asked, and Rose nodded. Scorpius stood in front of her and mounted his broom so she could watch someone else do it as she was doing it as well.

"Ok, let's try getting off the ground now. Bend your knees slightly, and jump slightly - really, just partially bend your knees then straighten them. Here." Scorpius demonstrated a couple times, pushing off the ground and landing quickly.

"Bend your knees before you hit the ground, so the impact isn't so stressful on your knees. Try to get up there and hover five-ish feet off the ground." Rose nodded and squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared to lift off. Scorpius put a hand on her arm.

"Keep your eyes open, you don't want to accidentally lose control of the broom and not have your eyes open. Just one eye - there, good." Rose peeked open one eye, and her one-eyed glare was just as scary, if not more so, as her normal one.

"I. Hate. You." She hissed, but pushed slightly off the ground.

"Good! Now hover . . . hover . . . good, now come down." Rose leaned back onMarcie's broom and landed on straight legs with a bump. Her legs buckled beneath her and she let out a small scream. Scorpius caught her before she faceplanted, and the two would have been in a rather romantic position if he hadn't propped her back up on her feet right away.

"You need to get right back up if you fall. Otherwise, it's just going to be worse, mental-wise, to try again." Scorpius said as Rose was catching in her breath. She nodded.

"Okay, I'm ready. Oh fuck this, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck . . ." Her strings of swears faded into her slight ascent. This time, she landed well, and so she made a few more hover ascents.

"Good!" Scorpius clapped his hands together once and checked his watch, "Okay, it's a little late. We can stop now. But if you want, I can keep teaching you. Maybe we'll even get a few more feet off the ground." Rose beamed, excited with her accomplishments, high on her comparative success.

"Nah, I'm going to try to go a little higher." She said, mounting her broom (which she was now able to do without too much error). Scorpius just shrugged, mounted his broom, and raised thirty feet off the ground.

"All right, try to come up to here."

"Are you fucking crazy? I didn't mean _that_ high!" Rose shrieked.

"Okay then, if you're too scared . . ." Scorpius fake sighed, pretending to be disappointed. In actuality, he was incredibly pleased at Rose's progress in this past hour. Rose's eyes steeled and she straightened up.

"Fine." She kicked her leg over Marcie's broom, and she began to slowly and shakily rise in the air.

"All right that's good right there!" Scorpius said. Rose and her iron-grip on the broom stopped a few feet in front of Scorpius.

"All right, now let's lower . . . and five, four, three, two, one . . . there we go." Scorpius coaxed Rose back to the ground. They both let out a little sigh of relief that Rose hadn't killed herself by accident.

"So do you want to try going fast?" Scorpius said.

"You've lost your bloody mind." Rose replied in all seriousness.

"Oh, no, not like you riding by yourself. I meant you would go on the back of my broom and I would show you what it is like to go faster than a turtle." Scorpius smirked.

"Well . . ." Rose hesitated, " . . . why not. Might as well do another crazy, idiotic, probably suicidal thing while we're at it, eh?" She finished a bit breathlessly.

"Wonderful," Scorpius grinned and he gestured for Rose to hop on behind him. She groaned but complied, her body a good four inches away from his and her arms stiff by her sides.

"You know, as much as you hate me, Rosie," Scorpius drawled, "You risk killing yourself by not holding on. Just wrap your arms around my upper chest - not around my neck, mind you, you'll choke me (and don't give me that evil smile, if I die this broom is going down) - and scoot up so you're holding tight." Rose huffed in protest, but complied as she pressed her body into his.

"Are you sure this isn't just a ploy to get into my pants, Scor?"

"Believe me, if I wanted to be in your pants, I would be."

Scorpius kicked off the ground, and Rose shrieked as they ascended rapidly.

"I take it back. Bring me down. Nope. Nope. Nope." Rose began, "I don't trust that you won't let me fall."

"Don't worry, Rose, I'd have to face too many questions if I let you die. Too much of a hassle if you ask me." Scorpius said, his voice almost lost in the wind, but with Rose's chin pressing into his shoulder, he was sure that she had heard what he had said.

"Hold on." Scorpius whispered, and he leaned forward into the broom so they were flying at top speed.

Colors flashed and melded into the dark of the night. The warm-lighted windows of Hogwarts turned into a fiery smudge, and the metallic glitter that still covered parts of the ground under the pitch dazzled in the slight moonlight. Scorpius' senses were keenly aware as Rose pressed her face into his neck, letting her eyes peek out ever so slightly. He resisted the urge to moan as he felt her lips move against his neck - probably prayers for her life (or, knowing Weasley, a deal with the Devil), but the actions were noticed all the same. Rose pulled herself ever so slightly tighter against Scorpius, the latter of whom let out a low chuckle that sent vibrations through both of them, and he increased the speed even more. The unlikely pair zipped around the quidditch pitch a couple more times before Scorpius decided to end it with a bang.

"Hold on!" He yelled this time, over the wind just to make sure Rose heard. Sensing his seriousness, she pulled herself even closer to Scorpius and looked up from his shoulder in curiosity. Scorpius pulled up in a wide arc, and the two went in a complete upside down loop in what felt like slow motion. Scorpius turned his head ever so slightly so he could see Rose's wide eyes. Her mouth was moving. She was saying something to him.

" _I'm going to fucking kill you in your sleep!_ "

Not exactly romantic, but it _was_ very Rose-esque. Scorpius laughed as he completed the loop and began the slow glide the the ground. Rose was shaking slightly, her grip not loosening from around his shoulders.

And then it happened. Scorpius had turned his head to check on her and Rose had turned her head towards him to probably curse him for making her do this in the first place. Or maybe, as Marcie would later say it, they felt the mood of the crescent moon and the intimacy of their position. But that shit's for hopeless romantics and believers in fate, and it was not fate, it was just miscalculation of timing when their lips brushed briefly. Scorpius froze. He felt Rose's slightly ragged breath on his face, and, well shit, maybe it was because he hadn't had a good snog in a month, or maybe it was the way that her brown-hazel eyes were looking at him from underneath her hat, and the way those eyebrows were doing that cute little bunch up thing, or maybe the way she chewed slightly on the inside of her cheek because she was nervous, but Scorpius leaned back and pulled a hand from the broom to tangle it in Rose's hair. Their lips brushed again, and they closed their eyes . . .

"Oof!" Rose and Scorpius' eyes opened in shock as they lost balance and fell three feet to the ground. There was an awkward silence as the two of the tried to get their breath back, not quite sure what to say to each other. But again, not because of fate, but because of convenient timing, the two locked eyes at the same time. Scorpius grabbed the back of Rose's head and rolled on top of her. He kissed her all right, and he kissed her good. Rose snaked her arms up and around his neck, pulling him closer. One of her hands rested on the back of his head while the other twined around his broad shoulders. Scorpius' right hand held the back of Rose's neck and his left went around her waist, and he pulled her hips even closer to his. As the two came up for air, Scorpius gave a little smile.

"And that's what happens when you close your eyes on a broom."

"I don't mind," Rose said as she caught her breath and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "As long as you're there to catch me."

"That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard." Scorpius laughed at the cliché.

"Shut that mouth and use it to kiss me again, dumbass." Rose laughed as she used her two hand to pull his jaw down to meet hers.

 **A/N: Hey y'all! It's been crazy hectic for the past couple weeks, but I've had so many ideas for this chapter, and I just needed to write them out for you guys. This is about halfway through my planned story, but, like I've said above, I didn't get a huge response for the last chapter. I _really_ don't want to put a lot of effort into this if no one really likes this story - and it's fine if you don't, I just want to be told! Anyways, it's almost been a year since I published this story, so can we maybe get to 30 reviews before then? I'll update on 10/25 if I do. If I don't, next chapter will probably be November, Thanksgiving maybe? Anyways, I hope I didn't seem too desperate (but I know I totally did lol), and I'll see you all next time! Lots of love!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 10/6/16**


	17. In Which the Pizza Lovers Clash

**A/N: Thank you all so much for last chapter's reaction! Got me a bit inspired, so buckle up! This next few chapters are going to a part of a three or four part series detailing the prep before the Yule Ball, build up for relationships, brewing of that potion (I haven't dropped that plot point, I promise!) along with some quidditch matches. I'm hoping to have this be a in Marcie, Rose, and Scorpius POV. Anyways, raise your glasses to Chapter 17, "In Which the Pizza Lovers Clash"!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard." Scorpius laughed at the cliché._

 _"Shut that mouth and use it to kiss me again, dumbass." Rose laughed as she used her two hand to pull his jaw down to meet hers._

* * *

 **Scorpius POV**

Scorpius wished that he could have said that he woke up that day gently, with the gentle winds of late fall caressing his face as he slowly let his eyes flutter open to the sounds of little birds chirping in their family nest outside his window. With little squirrels playing on his windowsill, frolicking about with little acorns as the gentle rays of morning cast their beautiful glow across the room.

But no.

Instead, Scorpius woke up violently to the sound of a hungover Rocco throwing up in his dorm's toilet and a beeping magical alarm clock that was charmed to run just out of his reach until he got out of the bed. The sky was overcast and, if Scorpius was not mistaken, there was a dead bird outside his window.

What a Monday.

Scorpius ran a hand over his face and he made his way downstairs, writing a note to the house elves for the table to have them send up a cup of coffee, black. The cup appeared a couple seconds later, and Scorpius sipped the steaming cup of caffeine as he surveyed his living room.

Rocco and Fred had appeared at Scorpius' dormitories last night, drunk off their asses from some Sunday night party (seriously, who throws a party on a Sunday?) and laughing about their prank (they just handed out some Puking Pastilles to Roy Andersen, the stupidest boy of the 7th year) and their angry and also extremely intimidating victim was chasing after them. Of course, Scorpius being the wonderful friend he was, closed the door and told them to take their punishment as they deserved. Twenty minutes later, Rocco and Fred appeared at his door again, this time sporting matching black eyes and certainly not laughing anymore. However, they were both still drunk and so Scorpius let them crash on his couch. As much as Scorpius wanted to have fun (not drink, he didn't do that on Sunday's because he knew he'd regret it on Monday), he had to start on Yule Ball prep, and he also was in charge of organizing next month's prefect schedule. The fifth and sixth years had started to get more comfortable with the Heads, and some weren't showing up for rounds anymore, and Scorpius was about to blow his top. However, he decided to drop his responsibilities for a couple hours and played Exploding Snap with his extremely drunk friends. The two had passed out an hour later, and Scorpius went up to his bed and followed suit. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to give Fred and Rocco a Pepper-Up-Sobering potion, and so the two currently had two ridiculously bad hangovers. Rocco had his head over the upstair bathroom's toilet and Fred had his head down the half-bath's. As bad as Scorpius felt for his friends - and he really did - he couldn't help poke a little fun at the situation. He leaned against the doorframe of the half bath and watched in disgust and humor as Fred blew his guts up his throat.

"Morning sickness' a bitch, eh? How many months along are you?" Scorpius said, drinking his coffee slowly. Fred raised his head, his black eye and vomit dripping down his chin made him look like a maniac.

"Fuck off." He croaked before retching into the toilet.

"Not my fault you had that one night stand. This is what happens when you get pregnant." Scorpius said with faux sympathy over the rim of his mug. Fred turned his head again.

"You know, you have a very strange and cruel sense of humor, you fucking rotter." Scorpius just watched merrily as Fred had to put his face back into the toilet.

"Catch you later. I'll try to find some baby shoes for the shower."

Scorpius nearly missed the projectile vomit that came his way.

"You're cleaning that up, you arse!" He yelled. _My beautiful bathroom, covered in Fred's alcohol induced chunks_. Fred just responded by flipping him off through the doorway. Scorpius just shook his head and went upstairs to quickly change into his uniform for class. He had set his alarm early enough to account for the bathroom's occupation, but he did have to brush his teeth while Rocco was gagging into the toilet next to him. His normally very attractive face was marred by a black bruise encircling one eye, the sickly pallor in his cheeks, and a bit of vomit on his chin.

"You look like shit." Scorpius said through the toothbrush.

"Fuck you." Rocco moaned, resting against the side of the toilet, catching his breath between his bouts of nausea. Scorpius ignored his friend's jab and continued talking through his toothbrush.

"You going to Babbit's this morning?" He asked, spitting in the sink. Rocco looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

"What do you think?" Scorpius pulled off his 8th Horcrux band tee and fastened his white button down with his wand between his teeth.

"Well, see you later. If you get sick over anything but the toilet, you gotta clean it up. If I come back and see crusty vomit on my couch I will emasculate you." Rocco just groaned and rested his head on the toilet seat, "Whatever man, just go."

Scorpius just shrugged, mussed up his hair slightly, slung his undone tie over his collar, threw on a cloak, and ran downstairs. He picked an apple out of the basket on his countertop of the kitchenette, taking a bite out of it and walked towards the door. At the sight of the mess of blankets on the couch, OCD-Scorpius kicked in so he waved his wand so the blankets levitated, unwrinkled, and landed in a neat, folded pile on the edge of the couch. Just as he was walking out the door, Fred called to Scorpius from the kitchenette, where the latter was taken an Advil, "Good luck at Babbit's!" Scorpius just threw a grin over his shoulder and pushed open the door.

* * *

Scorpius slid into his seat next to Marcie early, promptly at 7:58 in the morning. Rose and Melora sat at the table behind them - the two best friends moved their stations to be closer after they had made up. Since Rose and Scorpius had matured immensely since the beginning of the year, so as long as one didn't look, breath, or think too loud for the other, a fight could be avoided. So basically, their Potions squabbles only happened once or twice a week. Marcie had already had her short hair held up by hair wand, and she was reading the tiny script in the massive potions book. The two friends exchanged a brief greeting, but it was still too early for either of them to have much energy. Melora was already there behind Scorpius and Marcie, sitting in the lap of Richard Perkins with her tongue down his throat. As Scorpius was unpacking his bag, Rose came in, saw the snogfest at her table, gagged theatrically, and pulled a chair up to sit next to Marcie. Scorpius quickly left to, what he would have said, get some ingredients from the supply closet, but really, he knew he wasn't as suave as he thought he was, and Scorpius was not ready to face Rose at all, let alone with Marcie sitting between them. _She looks pretty_ , Scorpius thought, smugly noting the tiny mark behind her right ear - his mark. Their Friday night escapade was by no stretch of the imagination sexual.

 _~/-~/-_

 _Really, it was just a half hour of kissing, maybe moving down to the neck, when all of a sudden, they noticed a pair of drunk Slytherin students who had stumbled out of some doors leading to the castle, and were no less than fifty feet away from Rose and Scorpius. Scorpius didn't think the pair had noticed he and Rose yet, but they were bound to if they got any closer. Scorpius green-gray eyes met Rose's panicked hazel ones, and the two scrambled off each other. Rose picked up Marcie's broom, her hat, and Scorpius' cloak while Scorpius picked up the rest and the two made a mad dash in the other direction, towards the Lake. They had reached a tall hedge by the wall of the castle when Rose took out her wand, tapped the bush a couple times, and a small entrance appeared. Rose pulled in the befuddled Scorpius behind her and down a narrow pathway between two tall hedges until they reached one of the stone walls of one of the castle, which had a climbing wisteria vine. Rose stuffed all of her stuff in the still bemused Scorpius' arms, and she began shimmying up the vine. At this point, Scorpius decided this was about the time to inquire what the fuck was going on._

 _"Uh, Red? Wha-" He was cut off by Rose's quieting yet still annoyed voice._

 _"Just wait a sec, Scor. God, you have the patience of Fred . . ." Once Rose had made it to one of the third story windows, she used her wand and levitated all of the things out of Scorpius' arms through the window._

 _"Well," she said with her eyes intent on the items she was levitating, "Are you coming up or not?" Scorpius climbed up the thick vine quickly, landing in what he assumed was Rose's dorm. He looked up with a quick hair flip to see Rose sitting in an oversized red armchair by the fireplace, which was alive and crackling. She was touching her bottom lip softly with a slight smile curving it upwards. Scorpius strode over to her chair and promptly sat down on top of her._

 _"Scooch," he said teasingly, and Rose rolled her eyes with a grin and moved slightly over to the right, but she really ended up on top of his lap, her legs thrown over his. The two sat there quietly for awhile, Scorpius' arm around her shoulders as they stared at the blazing fire. Scorpius was the first to break the silence._

 _"Not a bad room, though far too much red for my tastes. Have you ever considered green?" Rose laughed and kissed his cheek, moving back only a fraction of a centimeter to say, "Nope." Scorpius turned his face so his lips met hers, and eventually Rose moved so that she was sitting directly on his lap, her arms around Scorpius' neck and his arms around her waist and shoulders. Scorpius pulled back slightly after a minute, resting his forehead against hers._

 _"Rose Weasley, I will kiss the Gryffindor out of you yet."_

 _"Never!" Rose declared. Scorpius moved his head to the side of her neck, kissing and sucking gently behind her ear. Rose had her hands tangled in the back of Scorpius' hair (a feat within itself, because he_ never _let_ anyone _touch his hair, not even Melora_ _) and breathing into his neck. All of a sudden, a small but audible pop and a rattle of a tea cup signified that a mug of tea had been sent up by some house elves. Scorpius and Rose, startled by the loud noise, jumped back from each other, Scorpius off the chair and Rose several feet away from him. An awkward silence reigned._

 _"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry, that's the mug of tea that I have sent up every night at ten, um, wasn't expecting . . ." Rose trailed off, moving her hands around. Scorpius stood there for a second, before waving his wand and gathering everything that was his up and into his arms. Rose handed him Marcie's broom._

 _"By the way, I know this is Marcie's broom," Rose said with a small smile._

 _"You do?" Scorpius stammered slightly, grabbing the end of Marcie's broom tightly._

 _"I'm less stupid than you think I am," Rose said, her eyes rolling, "It's not like I haven't noticed that you two hang out a lot. I also know that you hang out with Fred. I don't really give a shit, they can make their own idiotic mistakes if they like you." Scorpius shrugged in relief._

 _"Uh, I guess I should be going?" Scorpius said, almost like a question and began walking towards the door. He looked back once, and after a brief pause, Rose flicked her wand and the cloak came flying out of Scorpius' arms and into her outstretched hand._

 _"Not letting you leave with my cloak," she said with a little grin. Scorpius gave his signature smirk in return and slipped out the door._

~/-~/-

That was two days ago. Scorpius hadn't seen Rose all Sunday because he was stuck doing homework and Head work, and frankly, he wasn't quite sure what to do. While Rose had left him with some encouraging words, it was obvious to Scorpius that Monday was going to be pretty fucking awkward. And awkward it was.

When Scorpius got back to his table with an armful of ingredients that they didn't need, Rose was still there, blushing furiously as if noticing him for the first time. A very awkward silence crackled between the two of them, and Marcie picked up on it right away, but she didn't say anything. Scorpius cleared his throat and angled his body slightly away from Rose's, putting the textbooks close to his face while also trying to maintain a relaxed, suave posture. Rose, he noticed, turned in the other direction and started tapping nervously with her wand. Marcie chopped up some dandelion roots and scraped them into the cauldron with a practiced precision and set down her cutting knife.

"So did you guys fuck or something?" Rose spit out her water that she was drinking and Scorpius almost threw his textbook across the room.

"What the fuck!" Rose almost yelled.

"Why does everyone think that?" Scorpius exclaimed at the same time, running his hand through his hair. Rose's already flushed cheekbones reddened even more, if possible.

"Because you are acting so weird around each other," Marcie said slyly, "But I support it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rose said coldly, color decidedly leaving her cheeks and draining to an almost particular paleness. She quickly got up and went back to her seat, which was now longer occupied by Richard Perkins. Marcie leaned towards Scorpius and gave him a little wink.

"It's okay," she whispered, "I know that she's as totally into you as you are into her. I can just tell by the way that she looks at you." Before Scorpius could come up with any sarcastic remark, their bumbling professor bounced into the room.

"Hellllllooooooooooo there students! Are you all ready for another great great great great great great day in potions?" His excited greeting was met by a chorus of tired groans and moans. Babbit, however, was not deterred.

"Alrighty then! Let's get this next show on the road!" Their portly teacher clapped his hands together, and every student looked at their partner and rolled their eyes.

"So, who can tell me what this next step is today for our Veritaserum today?" Babbit asked, and every hand shot up in the air. As tired as they were, and as awful Monday mornings happened to be, these students were all the geeks of their year. I mean, come on, NEWTS Potions? Fuckin' nerds, man. Every. Last. One.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Garrett?"

"We're going to be going through the second bubbling phase, where the potion should turn from lilac to a dark teal."

"Good job! What is the first step in this process? Ms. Goldstein?"

"We're going to have to chop up some dandelion roots, and add them all in at the same time, followed by a quick wand tap to the edge of the cauldron."

"That's correct! And after that, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Crush beetlewig juice out of its shell, and add it in thirty seven second increments."

"Correct, bu- yes, Ms. Weasley?"

"-But actually, for a more precise version of the Veritaserum that we're making, the correct increment is 34 seconds - otherwise, the potion will actually only turn to a medium-dark lilac. The potion will still become Veritaserum, but it won't be as nearly effective." Rose spoke very quickly, finishing with a little grin. Babbit, chuckled, very pleased with his students astuteness.

"Very good Ms. Weasley!" Babbit said, continuing on with his lesson. Scorpius leaned back in his seat with a smirk.

"Know-it-all." He whispered, still keeping his eyes trained on Babbit. His smirk deepened as he heard a faint rustle behind him, signifying Rose's lean forward. He shivered as he felt her breath by his ear.

"Not my fault I know more than you." Scorpius stretched his arms behind his head, leaning back further so he could make eye contact with Rose, then he took his ballpoint pen out of his bag.

 _Nah, my potion will still be better than yours by the end of the day._ Scorpius scribbled on the back of his hand and casually tapped his wand against the message. Scorpius heard another rustling as Rose got her pen out of her messenger bag and scribbled back a message.

 _Is that another bet, Mr. Malfoy?_ Rose's scrawl appeared on the back of his hand several seconds later. Scorpius' smirk deepened and he wrote back.

 _Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Weasley?_

 _Seduce you? I could have you drooling over me without any effort at all._

 _Hmm, I don't think so. But I'll take that bet. If I win, I get my cloak back._

 _If I win, you have to have lunch with me after the Heads meeting._

 _Ugh, sounds horrible, but I'll take that deal._

Scorpius leaned back even further and let Babbit finish his lecture, which every student in the room had already read from the textbook.

"Okay, let's chop chop chop and get to these potions! Good luck, and ask me if you have any questions!" With one last clap (that guy _really_ loved to clap when he got excited, and he was excited _all the damn time_ ), Babbit released his students to their assignment. Marcie was pulling back the few pieces of hair that had fallen back and reading the recipe with her finger trailing to keep her place.

"Okay . . . alright . . . then we put in that . . . Okay, so Scor, first can you crush up those beetlewig shells? If you're finished ogling at Rose's ass, that is." Scorpius, who was indeed following Rose's behind with his eyes as she walked to the supply closet, jolted back to attention.

"Huh, wha- I'm not ogling, Marce, stop prying!" Scorpius protested, but he could tell Marcie saw right through him. She was going to get him sooner or later, he just hoped he could hold off long enough.

"Oh yeah, keep telling yourself that, amigo. Now pour that juice into this vial," Marcie handed Scorpius a small glass beaker, never taking her eyes off the potion while tapping it with her wand. Scorpius just rolled his eyes and began pouring the nasty green liquid into the vial.

"Scooch." Scorpius said, pushing Marcie slightly as he began adding the liquid. The potion hissed and popped, making both of the students thrust back in their chairs in surprise. Rose came by the table with a jar of beetlewigs in her hand, surveying the scene in front of her with an amused smile.

"Don't worry Marce, that's supposed to happen. Though Scor, make sure to put that in every thirty four seconds. Careful, you're slipping." Scorpius, keeping his eyes on the cauldron in front of him, decided on a simple flip off and he added in the juice slowly precisely on the thirty four second mark. Rose, in turn, settled on a laugh as she made her way back to her table.

"Totally fucking," Marcie said under her breath as she crushed porcupine quills in her mortar, "Totally fucking."

~/-~/-

"Perfect! Just don't forget to add a pinch of unicorn horn, it will give the right texture. You both may go now!" Babbie was coming around and inspecting all the potions at the end of the day, tallying all mistakes before correcting the potion with whatever procedure necessary. Of course, Rose and Melora's was perfect, the exact right shade of bluish chartreuse with a slight simmer. Babbit walked ahead and inspected Marcie and Scorpius' potion, stirring the pot slightly with his wand.

"Hermmmm . . . hmmmm . . . I see . . ." Babbit hummed, "Very good! You two are turning out to be quite the potioneers! Keep up the good work - you two are dismissed!" The portly professor clapped ( _"CLAP ONE MORE GODDAMNED TIME"_ Marcie whispered) and bumbled to the next pair of students. Scorpius and Marcie exchanged a smile and packed their bags. Scorpius shouldered his bag and turned to Rose's table.

"I win." Scorpius winked and caught a small smile of Rose and the surprised look on Melora's face before meeting Marcie at the door and walking out.

"Fucking. FUCKING. F-f-f-f-ffffffucking. All day everyday fucking," Marcie teased in a sing song voice. Scorpius just rolled his shoulders uncomfortably and gave her an exasperated smile.

"You need to stop now."

"Oh, but I won't."

"Oh, but you will."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't. And once you finish teaching my best friend how to fly before doing her - and by the way, I still need to give you the 'you hurt my best friend and I'll fucking rip off you testicles and force feed them to you when you're awake' spiel - be sure to return my broom, eh?" Marcie nudged Scorpius's side with her elbow, split off, and sauntered down the opposite hall." Scorpius just grimanced, annoyed, before he was joined no less than two seconds later by Fred's arm around his shoulders.

"So I hear from Rocco that you're doing my cousin. Now, I gotta lay some ground rules for breeding with the Weasleys for you." Scorpius just thanked the gods above that no one else was really in the hall within earshot of these two conversations.

"Oh my god, you too?" Scorpius asked, slapping his hand against his forehead.

"Yup. I mean, it's not too big a deal, Rosie is a big girl and can make her own decisions. It's not really any skin off my back. It certainly will be skin off yours if her dad finds out though."

Scorpius was honestly starting to get sort of fed up with this. He most certainly wasn't fucking Rose Weasley, maybe he didn't find the girl unbearable anymore, but she still wasn't anything more to him than a snog every now and then. So if everyone could just stop making a big deal out of everything, that would be great, thanks a billion.

And he told Fred just that. Scorpius knew that Fred would be sort of understanding, if miffed that Malfoy was insulting his family - despite not being obsessed with Rose, she was still his cousin, However, Fred knew that Scorpius was still under a lot of stress with Auror applications and Cassie's condition and all, so he wasn't about to chew his friend out at noon on a Monday in public.

However, Rose Weasley was not so forgiving.

Scorpius heard a barely audible intake of breath, sharp through the noise, and the rustling of robes that meant that someone had just spun around quickly. Scorpius turned on his heel to see the back of Rose's head, who was only a foot away (she looked as if she was reaching out to stop Scorpius to say something before she turned around), her hair whipping and she walked furiously down the hall.

"Wait, Rose-" Scorpius called out weakly, but Rose had already disappeared behind a painting and into a secret passage.

"Uh . . ." Fred look unsure as to what to do with the lost puppy look transforming his best friend's face into something he'd never seen before, "You'll make it up to her." Scorpius' face suddenly cleared, knowing that he would see Rose later at the Head meeting and just apologize to her then. And if she refused to accept his apology, well, it didn't matter to him. She was just another fling. Scorpius shrugged off Fred's hand and straightened his spine with a hand-run through his hair.

"Whatever man." Scorpius said, but his voice betrayed his feelings - it was almost shaky, insecure. And Scorpius was most certainly _not_ insecure, thank you very much. Fred just nodded understandingly, cast a quickly spill that split one of his younger cousin's bag, and put his hand on Scorpius' shoulder one more time.

"Rose's favorite flowers are, ironically, lilies." Scorpius nodded slightly, and Fred removed his hand.

"So do you know Eric Greenblatt?" Fred asked in an effort to change the subject, much to Scorpius' relief.

"Fifth year, lil bitch, know it all?"

"That's the one. You want to help me prank him?" Fred asked, turning a coin over and around his fingers.

"I can't anymore, I'm a Head, remember?" Scorpius smirked.

"Oh, please, like that would stop you from this chance. Besides, even if you don't help, I'm going to ask Rocco to help so this prank will happen." Fred rolled his eyes.

"Why on earth would you want to prank some random fifth year?" Scorpius laughed, and eyebrow cocked.

"Eh, he called Al a fag and said that he should be quote unquote normal and fuck girls."

Scorpius face suddenly turned serious.

"How many times?"

"If once isn't enough, if you must know, I have heard him say it at least twenty three times and counting."

"No, just wanted to know the amount of time I needed to punch him . What's the method of choice?"

"Rainbow glitter and pimple-chocolates."

"I'm in. Let's go find Rocco."

~/-~/-

Promptly an hour and fifteen minutes later, Fred, Scorpius, and Rocco sat in chairs facing McGonagall's desk in her office. The headmistress in question was comforting a fifth year boy whose face was hidden in a glitter covered, ugly mustard turtleneck in the doorway of the office . After a few more moments were the trio of boys sat in a triumphant silence, McGonagall dismissed the boy to the Hospital Wing and stalked back to her desk, sitting down with a heavy sigh.

"Is it true that you tried to feed Mr. Greenblatt pimple-chocolates?" She asked, her head in one of her hands and massaging her temple.

"Yup." Rocco popped the 'p', who was leaning back in his chair and inspecting his nails.

"And is it true that when he refused, all three of you charmed his face with a super-strength spell that causes acne to grow on his face for an indefinite period of time?"

"Correct-ymundo." Scorpius said, yawning into the back of his hand.

"And is it true that after all of this you shot glitter cannons that chased him around the school?"

"Uh-huh." Fred said in a bored tone, playing thumb war with himself.

"And this is all because he called another student by a derogatory term based on their sexuality?"

"That's right." Scorpius said while propping his feet up on an extra chair.

"Have a biscuit, boys." McGonagall said primly, gesturing to a plate of cookies in front of her. Scorpius, Rocco, and Fred exchanged a startled look.

"Uh, professor?" Scorpius asked in a shockingly timid voice. He cleared his throat and his voice was a lot less squeaky, "Professor, what?"

"You heard me. I have chocolate and strawberry jam," Minerva McGonagall plucked a strawberry jam biscuit off the plate with weathered hands, nibbling on the edge of it as she peered over the edge of her glasses with a severe look.

" _Take a biscuit,"_ She repeated, this time with no room for argument in her voice. All three teenagers grabbed for the plate. When everyone was back in their seats, McGonagall finished off the last crumbs of her dessert, then leaned back in her chair with tented fingers.

"Whether or not my principles align with yours, you all realize that you must be punished, am I correct?" she asked them, her tone implying that the question was rhetorical. Rocco, Fred, and Scorpius all nodded quickly.

"I'll let you off with some easy detentions, and I will let you complete them during your afternoon classes. However, I hope you will feel some shame for causing such bulbous pimples because every student will see you cleaning the floors or trophies. And Scorpius, you especially, you're a Head now. Do not think that just because Madam Pomfrey can fix him doesn't mean it's permissible to humiliate a young man. The only reason I am not stripping you of your privilege is because the other Heads need you for the Yule planning. But don't think I won't hesitate to strip you of your title, and all of you, don't think I won't hesitate to suspend you, if you cause another disturbance like this. Filch is outside, he will give you your detentions." McGonagall turned her head down to a stack of papers on her desk, give a little nod as a dismissal. The three teenagers bolted out of the room - as strong or brave or smart as they might be, they all knew Minerva McGonagall was stronger, braver, and smarter than all three of them combined. The three were met by the grinning, greasy, wrinkled face of Filch.

"Mr. Zabini, you're going to the Staircase, where you're going to clean the floors with this toothbrush." Filch produced what looked like a stick with some sparse cat fur taped onto it. Rocco raised an eyebrow.

"You can either clean the staircase or the locker room toilets." Filch grinned. Rocco grabbed the brush quickly and ran off down the hall.

"You, Mr. Weasley, have this feather duster to clean off all of Binn's classroom." Fred groaned but took the nasty duster and ran off.

"And you, Mr. Malfoy, get to clean the trophies in the Trophy Hall." He produced a bucket and a spotted rag. "No magic." Scorpius swallowed back an unkindly "fuck you" and headed down the hall.

~/-~/-

Six and a half hours later, the windows were already dark in the long, dimly lit Trophy Hall. Scorpius was sitting on top of a wooden cupboard, cleaning a Spelling Bee Trophy belonging to Balatilda Corbyn when none other than Rose Weasley stormed in.

"Are you fucking kidding me? An extremely important Yule meeting, the first one nonetheless, and you pull some prank that not even a seventh year should pull, let alone a Head, and for what? Did someone insult your hair?" She seethed, knocking over a pile of trophies with a kick.

"Whoa, stop it, stop! I just fucking cleaned all of that shit, I am not about to do it again!"

"I'm going to murder you! I have to cover your ass yet again because of your incompetence! What if I don't do it?" Rose yelled, kicking over another pile of trophies. Scorpius hopped down off the cupboard, landing with a soft thud and began making his way across the endlessly long hall. Rose continued ranting, kicking over the occasional metal cup.

"Every time, you just do whatever the hell you want, with no thought on how others might feel or react! It's just so damn insensitive. You know I wouldn't even mind doing your work if you had a good reason, but you don't! And it's not like I care, but -" Scorpius crossed the last stretch with a long step, pulled Rose into him, and kissed her full on the mouth. Rose, however, resisted, and pulled back. Rose put her forehead onto Scorpius' chest and pushed his shoulders to push him away from her. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, as if to preserve warmth. Scorpius wanted to reach out, to kiss her, because she just looked so damn sad, and he, well, he just wanted an excuse to be close to her! But Rose still kept her distance.

"No. You can't just kiss me and expect to make it okay. Look, I know we don't mean much of anything to each other, but you can't just say you don't give a shit about me when that's not true. And I know that were are by no means dating, but I can't even figure out why I don't hate you anymore-" Scorpius cut her off again, but this time, tactfully, cut her off with his voice, not his lips.

"Rose, I don't think that we've hated each other for a long time. Look, I'm sorry for saying that earlier to Fred, I was just tired of everyone saying that we were screwing and, even if we were, which we're not, they act like it's some super surprising thing that I could ever get you to like me!" Scorpius yelled back in an equally intense tone. Rose let a small smile curve her lips.

"I know what you're saying. But still, can we just agree not to say things like that anymore? I don't think you want me going around calling you a dickhead anymore." Rose said. Scorpius growled under his breath at the thought of Rose hating him enough to say that, and Rose raised an eyebrow. "My case in point."

"Okay, no more trash-talk. But remember, you still owe me something for our bet." Scorpius smiled and walked closer to Rose to try and kiss her again. Again, she pushed him back, but this time more flirtatiously.

"No. Not yet. But I will have dinner with you. The Great Hall is already closed, but we can go to one of our dorms and eat there. I'll catch you up on the Head Work you missed."

"Is that a proposition?" Scorpius wiggled an eyebrow.

"No, its a favor." Rose gave an exasperated, is amused, sign, "Come on." She grabbed his elbow and pulled him towards the door. Scorpius pulled back with a sigh.

"Wait, I have to finish." He groaned. _Filch, you cockblocker_. Rose turned around, surprised.

"Oh, pffft, almost forgot." She waved her wand quickly, and with a stream a white light, the entire rooms of trophies polished and sorted themselves onto the shelves. After a couple of seconds of flying metal projectiles, the entire room was neat and perfect.

"Mastered that one years ago. Goes around the whole "no magic to conjure soap" because everything just fixes itself. This has gotten me out of _so_ many detentions, I'm surprised you've never heard of it." She said sarcastically, pulling the flabbergasted Scorpius after her.

"You _need_ to teach me that." Scorpius said as he let the Gryffindor girl pull him down the hall and into a secret passageway behind a tapestry.

"A master never reveals her secrets," Rose's laugh echoed around in the dark staircase.

"Cruel."

"Do you expect anything less?

"Touché." Scorpius smiled as Rose pulled him out into the dimly lit hallway. The pair looked around quickly to make sure no one was in the hall and Rose said a quick Latin phrase (which Scorpius didn't know, he was shit at Latin despite the fact his mother tried to teach him for five years) to a suit of armor. Said suit of armor pushed the wall, which caved at the push.

"Okay, so I have some leftover pizza in a fridge, we can have some of that. Meat lovers'."

"Perfect." Scorpius sat down on the couch with a heaving exhale.

"Uh-uh-uh. Get your own slice, I'm not getting it for you!" Rose exclaimed as she pulled the box out of the fridge. Scorpius groaned loudly, but his stomach growled louder when he smelled the scent of cold meat lovers' pizza. His hunger won out and he dragged himself off the couch. Scorpius went up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders while resting his chin on her head. Scorpius felt Rose give a little laugh and she pulled out two slices for both of them. She was about to put the plates into the microwave when Scorpius stopped her.

"Noooooooo, leftover pizza is best cold!" Rose shrugged Scorpius' arms off from around her shoulders and gasped.

"You're one of the cold pizza lovers? You're a heathen," Rose said, starting to put the plates in the microwave. Scorpius took one of the plates out of her hand and took a huge hulking bite out a slice.

"Vulgar barbarian," Rose said, standing on her tiptoes to put her plate in the microwave.

"Delicious." Scorpius said through chews. Rose took her plate out, eating her nasty, soggy, lukewarm pizza slice.

"I can't believe I've kissed that mouth." Scorpius moaned, pulling two butterbeers out of the fridge. Rose just made a kissy face (not very cute, by the way, with pizza sauce all over her face and a piece of bacon stuck to her cheek) and took a butterbeer bottle out of his hands.

"Blerrrrghhh," Scorpius groused. Rose just flipped him off and took another bite out of her slice. The two finished eating in silence - or rather, loud chews and a couple choruses of "ya nasty"s. Rose finished first, and she pulled him by his elbow (again) to the couch. She patted the cushion next to her as she sat down, pulling a large planner book that had magazine clippings poking out of the edges. She pulled out her contacts and dropped them into the nearby trash pail, jamming her glasses up her nose and pulling her hair up into a bun. She looked down at her jeans with annoyance.

"Hold on, I'll just be a sec." She said to Scorpius, pushing her book into his lap and valuting over the couch, "Don't touch that book with your grubby-slimy-cold-sausage-fingers." She called over her shoulder, running up the stairs. Scorpius finished his bite of cold deliciousness and wiped his hands on a nearby paper towel. He thumbed through Rose's planner, which was remarkably well organized and had some great ideas.

"Thought I told you not to look!" Rose whined, vaulting over the couch again and into the seat next to Scorpius. she still had her bun and glasses, but now she was wearing grey sweats, a red sweatshirt, and fuzzy yellow socks.

"This has some really good ideas." Scorpius said earnestly.

"Don't make fun," Rose said self-consciously, tugging the book out of Scorpius' hands.

"No, seriously. I really like the idea of ice chandeliers that when they melt, they turn into balls of fairy light. We won't have to worry about keeping the braziers on fire if we do that." Scorpius pulled the book open and pointed to the chandeliers in question. Rose gave a half-smile, and she kissed Scorpius softly on the cheek. _She has soft lips,_ Scorpius thought dumbly.

"Thanks," she said softly, looking at his eyes and knowing he was sincere. Scorpius smiled, and just when he thought he might get an actual kiss on the lips, she excitedly turned back to the book and began animatedly explaining her ideas.

"I like the chandeliers, but their sort of expensive, and so I was considering floating christmas trees or wreaths. They could double as decorations and lights . . . " Scorpius turned his eyes from the page and looked at Rose's face. Her face was lively and passionate as she spoke about shift rotations. _I don't know how, but she could probably ask me to do anything and I would do it_. Scorpius went in for a kiss on Rose's cheek. Rose gave a sharp inhale but continued talking with a little smile. It became a little game that night. Scorpius would try to distract Rose with strategically placed kisses on her neck and cheek, but never on her lips. Rose was surprisingly resilient. She managed to catch Scorpius up with all of the work and decisions made that lunch and then some before she craned her neck a little to give Scorpius better access. It wasn't until they had finished making food decisions (a duty which was assigned to Rose and Scorpius at the meeting) that Rose turned her head and captured Scorpius' lips with hers. Scorpius pulled her into his lap, then laid her down on the couch and positioning himself on top. They kept at it until the clock struck one, and the two finally broke apart for air.

"You're a shockingly good kisser, Mr. Malfoy," Rose said between kisses, taking in a deep breath and letting her eyes flutter shut from fatigue.

"Don't sound so surprised, Ms. Weasley. You're not so bad yourself," Scorpius murmured into her hair before closing his eyes. All was dark.

~/-~/-

Sudden light ripped Scorpius from his slumber, blinding him as he sat up, much to the now-awake Rose's surprise as she was in his lap. She tumbled to the ground, groaning. Scorpius offered her a hand while still trying to blink away the spots in front of his eyes and the effects of the blinding light from the open curtains.

"Well what do we have here." A very familiar voice said. It did not sound amused.

 _Oh shit_ _._ Scorpius thought.

 **A/N: And that's it! I know this is sort of a filler chapter, but it's actually one of my longer ones and hopefully I can cut out some of the other filler chapters by making this one a bit longer. Actually it's my longest chapter yet! I hope to start getting into the whole Yule thing within the next chapter or two.**

 **So it's been an _entire_ year since I started this story! I remember posting it, not really expecting to continue. But here we are, on chapter 17! Quite an amazing feat! I hope to have this story finished by this time next year, so we'll see if I can do it! Thank you for those who regularly review, favorite, and follow - I honestly can't tell you guys how much I love you for reading this! It has turned as something other than a hobby, and rather my brain-baby. Thank you so much again, and until next chapter! As always, follow, favorite, and review!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 10/25/16**


	18. In Which Numbers are Revealed

**A/N: So it's been a long time. Let's talk at the author's note at the end of this chapter. Here's chapter 18, "In Which Numbers are Revealed"**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"Well what do we have here." A very familiar voice said. It did not sound amused._

Oh shit _. Scorpius thought._

* * *

 **Rose's POV**

"What the fuck?" Rose murmured, grabbing her head where she hit it on the table when she tumbled to the ground. She squinted into the morning light streaming through her window to see who the intruder was.

"Marcie?" Scorpius asked incredulously. Rose blinked away the spots in her eyes to see a very amused smirk on Marcie's face and a look of confused horror on Scorpius'.

"Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it most certainly wasn't _this_." Marcie said, extending a hand to help Rose stand up. The latter waved away the help and stood up shakily. _Well, shit_.

"This isn't what it looks like," Rose said cautiously, extending her arms out in a placating gesture. Well, it sort of _was_ what it looked like, but Rose wasn't about to admit that Marcie.

"I had just come over to Rose's last night, just to, y'know . . ." Scorpius cast a panicked look at Rose. Rose rolled her eyes. _Has this boy never lied in his life?_

"We were just going over some Head stuff when we both got really tired, and I guess we fell asleep," Rose said with a noncommittal shrug. _I mean, I'm not lying . . ._ Rose thought to herself weakly, though Marcie's arched eyebrow obviously did not believe her.

"Uh-huh." Marcie said with a smirk, definitely not having it, "Well I just came to tell you guys that the Auror's Office sent out their acceptance and rejection letters today. But it looks like the owls already beat me too it." Marcie jerked her head towards the window. Scorpius and Rose blinked through the sleep in their eyes to see two Ministry Owls pecking at one of the windows. Rose looked at Scorpius for a brief moment, and at the exact same they vaulted over the couch to the window. Scorpius, with his long legs and arms, got there first and threw open the latch to the window, letting the two owls flutter around the ceiling of the room before they settled on the coffee table. The tawny brown owl held out its leg towards Rose and shook it as his drank some of the water from a cup on the table. Rose carefully but quickly untied the thick parchment envelope from its leg and ripped it open. She pulled out the thick sheets of paper and scanned the first page quickly, her heart beating like a jackrabbit with anticipation.

 _Dear Rose Weasley,_

 _Thank for submitting for application of intent on November 12, 2023. After a careful review of your application and transcript received from your school, along with a very thorough background check, the International Ministry of Magic's Office of Aurors has decided to accept you to our training program. Please not that this does not guarantee you a permanent job as an Auror. The next round of Aurors will be chosen after the training program._

 _Thank you,_

 _Scarlett Mason, Head of Applications of the International Auror Office_

 _Harry Potter, Head of English Branch of the International Auror Office_

Rose let out a gasp/squeal, letting her fingers run over the words a few times just to make sure it was real. She ran over to Marcie and threw her arms around her friends shoulders, the pair of them jumping up and down and laughing with excitement. Eventually the two stopped and looked over at Scorpius expectantly. Scorpius had a faint smirk on his face as he watched the two but when they gave him questioning glances, he just shook his head.

 _Oh,_ Rose thought. She was expecting him to make it. If she was being 100% honest with herself, she was hoping that he would make it. She really could use a friend in the program. She and Marcie reached out hesitantly for him, but he just moved back slightly, shaking his head and smiling.

"Wh-" Rose began, but was interrupted by Scorpius thrusting his papers toward her. They read:

 _Dear Scorpius Malfoy,_

 _Thank for submitting for application of intent on November 23, 2023. After a careful review of your application and transcript received from your school, along with a very thorough background check, the International Ministry of Magic's Office of Aurors has decided to accept you to -_

"You little liar!" Rose said, punching Scorpius lightly in the stomach. Scorpius laughed while giving the very confused Marcie the papers. Rose and Scorpius danced a little jig around the Great Room while Marcie just laughed at them and fed the owls.

"Well, congrats, you two. I'll see you in Potions," Marcie said with a grin, slipping out the door. She peeked her head back around to add, "And don't think you've been let off the hook for this little . . . arrangement you had this morning." Marcie's head disappeared, leaving Rose to her thoughts with Scorpius. The two were awkward for a second, but they simply couldn't stand it. They were both far too excited to let any awkwardness stay between them. The two burst out laughing and Rose felt Scorpius hands grab her hips before she was swung around in the air. Cliché, yes, but what the hell, they were both excited. Rose put her hands on Scorpius' shoulders, still laughing with glee.

"Scor, put me down, I'm gonna puuuuukkkkeeeee!"

"Blerghhhhh, do _not_ regurgitate your warmed up pizza on to me," Scorpius said, placing her on the ground. However, Rose noticed how his hands were still resting on her hips, and she had no particular inclination to unlock her arms from around the tall Slytherin's neck. Rose beamed up at him and pulled him in for a hug. She stood on her tip toes so her cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and his chin was resting on her head.

"We did it," she said with a disbelieving laugh and a grin.

"Well, only part of the way there - the hard part is still the training," Scorpius groaned. Rose and he laughed, and the two disengaged so they could read through the rest of the papers. Scorpius gave the Ministry Owls a few more treats and then sent them off on their way. Rose grabbed her acceptance packet again and began reading through what came next.

 _Congratulations on making the Training Program, but the journey has just begun. Training begin on December 20, 2023, and will continue until January 10, 2017. If your school schedule conflicts with any of these dates, they have already been informed by the Office and you have special dispensation to miss the said days of will be allowed to stay with your families on Christmas Eve night and Christmas Morning, but your attendance is required on the London Auror Base at promptly 1300 on the 25th. The first week of training will be a rigorous physical bootcamp. Those who do not make the cut in flying, running, strength, flexibility, and magical ability will be sent home. Information you will be tested on in both Week 1 and Week 2 will be sent as a booklet in the coming 24 hours. The second week will consist of tactical and skill training, where you will be tested on Auror tactics and rules. The third week, also known as 'Immersion Week', is when you are split up into pairs or groups, and you will be briefed on a minor Auror assignment and will be required to complete it using the knowledge you have gained in the past two weeks. This assignment may require your specialty, but it also may not. Your unit will be under surveillence by an experienced Auror, and they will be deciding whether or not you will be accepted into the Auror program._

 _More information about the three weeks on the next page._

By the end of the second page, both Scorpius and Rose were slightly panicking. Neither made eye contact as they tried to calm themselves down. Rose, her eyes still cemented to her letter, spoke.

"It's okay. You can do this. This won't be that difficult. You can memorize a booklet of information in less than three weeks all the while planning the Yule Ball and getting in shape for Bootcamp. You can do this," Rose said, more to herself than Scorpius. The two of them, wide-eyed, looked at each other.

"We can do this, right?" Scorpius asked uncertainly.

"Oh, totally. We can study together and everything, and test each other . . ." Rose trailed off, nodding aimlessly. Rose felt Scorpius large, warm hand closing over her clammy, small one. She nodded to herself and then abruptly stood up, clapping her hands together.

"All right, Potions today. We're finishing the Veritaserum today, right?" Rose asked, helping Scorpius up off the couch.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging on his cloak and fixing his tie, "December 3rd, that's supposed to be the day." Rose grabbed the two messenger bags off a nearby armchair and threw Scorpius' to its respective owner, shouldering her own.

"Then let's go."

* * *

Rose and Scorpius skidded into the Babbit's classroom right before he shut the door at 8 AM, sliding into their respective seats. Marcie, who was already sitting and unpacked in front of the brass cauldron that was filled to the brim with a purple-ish, steaming liquid, was taking notes from the chalkboard. Rose unloaded his parchment and a quill and began taking notes in the seat behind her. Marcie leaned back stretching so Rose could hear her words.

"You two totally looked like you shagged by the way," Marcie said out of the corner of her mouth.

"Marcie-" Rose said in a warning tone, not ready for this conversation yet today.

"No, I'm not saying that you _did_ , I'm just saying what they look like. I know how people think. And I know what they're thinking now. Take Melora for example, she definitely thinks you two shagged." Marcie said, her eyes roving from her parchment to the board, but never back towards Rose. Rose looked to her side inconspicuously, glancing at Melora, who was giving Rose a slight stinkeye. Sizing the Weasley up, she was! Rose whipped back around to Marcie.

"Holy shit she does think that Scorpius and I shagged." Rose said in a not so quiet whisper. Babbit, who was waiting by his desk for his students to finish copying the notes, snapped his head up. Marcie tilted her chair forwards and innocently took notes, giving off a faux-innocent aura

"Have something you'd like to share, Ms. Weasley?" The plump professor asked in his ever-enduring cheerful manner.

"Nope," Rose said hurriedly, popping the 'p' and finishing taking the notes. She did, however, jab Marcie's leg with a slight kick.

Once everyone finished and had their quills down, Babbit instructed them to begin their final day of brewing the Veritaserum.

"Remember, this counts towards your term grade as an exam. If you have any questions or worries about the brewing of your potion, I suggest you ask me before the finishing of the potion so it doesn't end up as a Troll." The professor surveyed the class with a menacing eye, as if threatening them would make them want to do better. Please, these were NEWT students. Not only did they try hard on every assignment, but they also excelled on every assignment. The students fidgeted slightly, wanting to just get on with it already. After one last round of evil-eye, Babbit dismissed the classroom to their potions with a clap of their hands.

Whatever Melora thought about the state of Rose and Scorpius' relationship, she was ready to put that aside and finish the Veritaserum.

"So how about I squeeze the Cindermelons and you get the Lethe River Water and Fire Seeds. Those are the only ingredients left." Melora instructed. Rose nodded and made her way to the Potions closet, picked out the necessary ingredients, and made her way back to the table. Melora carefully measured the drops of the citrus-y fruit, and then stirred the pot exactly 21 and a quarter times. She then stepped back from the table Rose measured out the Fire Seeds and dropped in 34 of them in 3 seconds intervals, and then waited for the little puff of smoke and potion color change that signaled that that step of the potion was complete. A little fireball erupted from the center of the cauldron, then puffed out into smoke, leaving a faint scent of cinnamon in the air and the potion itself a deep scarlet color. Rose nodded at Melora, who then began mixing in a few drops Lethe Water. As much as Rose didn't necessarily care for Melora's morals, she had to admit that she and the girl worked pretty well together. They were quiet and didn't speak much to each other, but they knew exactly how to dance around each other so their timing was perfectly. _Well, we should be this good after a semester of being each other's partners_ , Rose thought as she cast a Lumos spell around the tip of her wand. Rose then spiraled the very tip of her wand around the very top of the potion's surface. This action slowly turned the thick, scarlet liquid to smoke, leaving a small residue of a substance that was clear and thin as water. The two girls stared at the potion then looked at other.

"We did it." Melora said in a voice one would use to speak to a baby. She reached out to stroke the side of the cauldron, before remembering herself and turning off the heat on the burner.

"Our baby is complete," Rose cooed, also stroking the side of the cauldron. Normally, the redhead wouldn't dream of speaking to someone who was little more than an acquaintance in such a voice, but this was a special moment. Such tones were permitted when one's pet project was finished. They had worked so incredibly hard on this potion, especially because this class' grade really mattered because of job applications.

"Should we call over Babbit?" Melora asked. Rose nodded and the two girls thrust their hands in the air. Babbit came over from a nearby table that had had a miniature explosion with the Fire Seeds (Felix Haverford had accidentally put in 35 seeds instead of 34).

"What can I do for you girls?" Babbit asked.

"Good morning, Professer. We're finished." Melora said in a sweet voice, giving the man a smile. _It always helps to butter up the professors,_ Melora had once told Rose. The Weasley had to agree with that sentiment, because the professor, who was usually perpetually cheerful, looked a little pissed off at the explosion when he was coming over, but brightened up considerably when Melora chirped her greeting.

"Oh my, already?" Babbit clapped his hands behind his back as he peered into the cauldron, "Let's take a look, shall we?" The professor inspected the cauldron and its contents before looking up at the girls.

"Very good! I think you may have forgotten to put in a fern leaf as the very last step, which is added for maximum potency, but it seems as though you otherwise were the first! Good job! Also, don't forget to test the potion on each other once you're finished!" He said, before noticing Marcie and Scorpius' hands up at the table in front of them.

"If you would excuse me," Babbit said with a little bow. Rose quickly stole an extra fern leaf off of May Chittenden's table and stirred it into the cauldron. Melora and Rose raised their hands again, just in time to see Babbit bout to make an announcement.

"So it seems we have some finishers! Ms. Goldstein and Ms. Weasley were the first to complete their potion, except for a minor flaw, which is to be remedied. Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Scamander finished second with the same mistake, but are completing it now, so I will declare that pair to be the official first finishers!" Babbit finished with a squeak. A smattering applause went through the room, but most of the NEWT potioneers were still focused on finishing their own potions. Rose were about to protest this unfair declaration, but was stopped by Melora.

"S'not worth it Rose, its okay," the Ravenclaw said with a slight laugh. Rose just huffed her annoyance but released her partner's correctness. But that didn't stop the Weasley girl from flipping off Scorpius as he turned around to give her a gloating smile. Melora took out a canteen of pumpkin juice and poured it into two little beakers. Rose took a dropper and dropped three drops of the potion into each glass.

"Bottoms up." Melora winked as she clinked her glass against Rose's. The two drank their entire cupfuls.

"All right, so on to some basic questions," Rose said, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve.

"What's your name?" Rose asked.

"Melora Goldstein." Melora replied without hesitation.

"Age?"

"Eighteen."

"House?"

"Ravenclaw."

Rose nodded at the quick answer to the baseline questions. The efficient answers were supposed to indicate that the potion was working. Now onto some of the deeper stuff. Rose pondered what she should ask. She should be nice and let Melora off the hook? Or should she satisfy her curiosity? Deciding that Melora would gladly ask her some uncomfortable questions in a few minutes, Rose chose the latter.

"Okay, so now for your five questions. How many people have you hooked up with?" Rose asked.

"Oh, straight for the jugular, I see," Melora grinned, "Well, define hook up."

"Both making out and sex."

"Hmm, twenty seven make-outs, twenty three guys, four girls. Five sex-partners, four guys, one girl." Melora said without much hesitation. Rose was a little shocked at the effective-ness of the potion, though she shook it off quickly. but she did make sure to lower her voice for her next questions, which were, admittedly, personal.

"Who's your best shag?"

"Scorpius Malfoy." Melora replied right away. Rose felt a little twinge in her chest.

"Are you two going out?"

"Oh dear god no, just friends with benefits."

"Um, well, okay, worst shag."

"David Lynnfield, no question. So that's five questions, now it's my turn." Melora said with a bit of glee. Rose gulped. She probably shouldn't have asked those questions, because Melora would now ask super personal questions and Rose wasn't sure if she wanted the Hogwarts Shag to know her secrets.

"Name?"

"Rose Weasley."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"House?"

"Gryffindor."

"Let's begin," Melora said with a cat-like grin. Rose shuddered internally. The readiness to give out her answers was shocking, even if they were questions she didn't mind being asked.

"So, what was your first impression of me." Melora asked, leaning back in her chair.

"'She's a whore,'" Rose felt the words come out before she could even stop them, and she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands when she realized what she said. Melora just laughed kindly.

"You're not the only one, don't worry. What's your impression of me now?"

"Well, I don't like calling people whores now, so I'd say that you're promiscuous but you haven't given me a reason not to like you." Rose shrugged.

"What's your number?"

"Seven makeouts, six guys, and possibly one girl when I was piss drunk. Two shags, both previous boyfriends." Rose felt her face flush a deep red. It was like word vomit.

"Only two? Damn, I'll have to hook you up!" Melora said, tapping her finger to her chin, "I guess for my fourth question then would be would you consider hooking up with one of my shags?" Rose considered this and then answered.

"Yes." _Please don't ask me who, please don't ask me who, please don't ask me who,_ Rose thought.

"I'm sure you know a pretty extensive list of my shags - who would you hook up with then?" Melora asked slyly. _Damn shit ass dick motherfucker shitty shit . . ._ Rose cursed in her head. She felt her face turn beet red and everything in her fought against answering.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose barely squeaked out. She turned her head to see if Scorpius had heard her, but luckily, it looked as if he was too busy turning red at whatever inappropriate question Marcie had asked him. Melora's mouth opened into a wide 'O', and, despite her predicament, Rose smirked to herself and thought _That's how the boys love her to look_.

"Oh shit." Melora said. Rose buried her face in her sweater and arms.

"I thought you two hated each other though. Has something changed?" Melora asked. Rose, because of the reduced dosage, began to feel her resistance kick in. She pulled her mouth out of her sweater.

"Only five questions," She managed to croak out before burying her face in her arms and whispering to herself, "No, we're friends, but I like it when he kisses me." Luckily, the sweater muffled her latter response, and so Melora didn't hear.

"Do you like him, you know, more than just shag-worthy? Have you even been hanging out with him?" Melora whispered so Scorpius couldn't hear.

"Yes. And yes." Rose, still buried under her hair and sweater. Unfortunately, Melora heard her this time. After gaping like a fish for a few seconds, Melora snapped her mouth shut and stood up.

"One sec. I won't tell anyone, and while I am going to talk to Scorpius, it is not about you - it's about him and I." Melora said shortly. Before Rose could protest, Melora tapped Scorpius on the shoulder. Rose would be lying if her heart didn't skip a beat when she saw the adorable confusion and slight blush on his face, leftover from Marcie's questions.

"You do know that you and I are over, right? We haven't shagged in like a month and a half?" She asked.

"Of course I know that, I'm not stupid." Scorpius said, casting a confused look at Rose. She, however, didn't see it as she was too busy planning her life as a lone fisherman off the coast of China, because there was no way she could stay at Hogwarts after that thoroughly embarrassing conversation with Melora.

Melora then pulled him close and whispered, what seemed like to Rose something dirty, because Scorpius blushed and nodded. Melora gave a curt nod and then sat down next to Rose.

"Don't worry, I said all good things," Melora told her lab partner, patting her back as Rose moaned in embarrassment, "It's not that embarrassing to have a crush. Hell, I think my number is a more embarrassing topic than your crush!" Melora said gamely. Despite the Ravenclaw's kind words, Rose still felt awful.

Because she finally had to admit to herself that she liked Scorpius Malfoy.

 **A/N: So hi. I know, it's been a while. The truth is that I'm sort of losing interest in this story. Maybe not so much losing interest as just simply being to busy with my classes that when I have time to write, its one in the morning. So what I'll say is this: I've been working on this story for more than a year. I was all bushy-tailed and bright eyed when I started, but now it has become a little more like a burden. That's not to say that I don't like writing, it's just that its difficult to maintain enthusiasm for your story when the reader base seems so small. I know it's not that small, because I can see all the stats for views and stuff like that, but I'm not getting that much in terms of reviews. I currently have 72 followers, and if each one just left one review, that means I would have over 100 reviews. And that's pretty cool, ngl. In conclusion, what I'll say is that I will continue to write this story no matter what, but I also have decided to shorten it a lot. My updates will probably be sporadic (the only reason I got a chapter done today is because I'm home sick), unless I get a lot of enthusiasm from the readers to continue.**

 **Anyways, as always, love ya and until next time!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 12/8/16**


	19. In Which Rose Threatens Everyone

**A/N: Hey hey hey! So I'm back, because its winter break. I literally broke my finger today, so this chapter is taking forever to write, but hopefully I'll have it posted before my finals lol.**

 **I have a huge bone to pick with all y'all. At the time of writing this, I had 196 views on my last chapter. You want to know how many reviews I got? _One_. Look, I promised myself I wouldn't do this when I started writing this story because it seemed like an asshole-y thing to do, but who am I kidding, I'm an asshole. So anyways, I will not write the the Yule Ball Series (ie the next two chapter) until I get 45 reviews. Merci, mes petites readers, and please, as always, review, favorite, and follow! Presenting chapter 19, "In Which Rose Threatens Everyone"**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _"Don't worry, I said all good things," Melora told her lab partner, patting her back as Rose moaned in embarrassment, "It's not that embarrassing to have a crush. Hell, I think my number is a more embarrassing topic than your crush!" Melora said gamely. Despite the Ravenclaw's kind words, Rose still felt awful._

 _Because she finally had to admit to herself that she liked Scorpius Malfoy._

* * *

 **Guess what? It's Marcie's POV now, because that's how I roll.**

"You are _not_ wearing _that_ to the Yule Ball. Not on my watch," Derek declared, tossing probably the sixteenth dress Marcie had held up in front of herself into the pile with the rest of the rejects. In addition to Marcie and Derek, Amoury, Linda, Yvonne, and Rose were all crowded into the Head Girl dorm, trying on various dresses/tuxedos and getting ready to go out for a Hogsmeade weekend. The dress code for the ball was supposed to be black tie and literal ball gowns, and so as you can imagine, every was freaking in the day before the ball, because naturally no one had gotten their shit together because it's a bunch of teenagers. They are the biggest procrastinators in the whole world. Everyone was supposed to wear their house colors, and the dresses were supposed to be hugely extravagant dresses and dress robes.

Marcie threw herself on to the bed with all the rest of her friends, moaning.

"That's it. I'm not going. Someone tell Lily that her date is a potato and therefore will not be going to the Ball with her."

"Shut up and try this on, drama queen," Derek said, undeterred by his friend's reluctance whilst throwing a slinky gold ensemble at her. Marcie let out an ear deafening scream into Rose's side, much to everyone else's amusement, but she got up and took the dress to the bathroom.

"You fucks are a lot of rubbish friends, you know that right?"

"Just do it," Rose called from the bed, barely looking up from the magazine she was flipping through. She didn't have anything nice enough for the ball, and she wanted to get a newer dress for the ball instead of just borrowing Marcie's. Linda and Yvonne had already gotten their dresses a couple weeks earlier for the last Hogsmeade visit, Derek (of course) already had a full outfit planned the day the Yule Ball was announced, Amoury was just going to use his normal dress robes that, because they were from Beauxbatons, were a bit more stylish, Marcie being Marcie had procrastinated getting her robes/dress until the week before, and Rose was too busy planning the actual thing to be ready for it.

Amoury and Yvonne were still in the happy, naive, early months of their relationships. The two were curled up in an armchair chair, which was no easy feat considering that they both were incredibly tall people. Yvonne and Rose were stretched out on the bed, among the pile of sequins and feathers that made up the rejected dresses. Derek was sorting through Rose's closet and the dresses Marcie brought into piles. After maybe another thirty seconds of silence, Marcie burst out of the bathroom with a shriek.

"This is the most disgusting thing I have ever worn on my body." Marcie declared, and that was, as everyone on the room could attest, the truest statement ever said. It was too baggy, too tight, too long, and too short in all the wrong places.

"Why did I even buy this shit?" Marcie wailed before collapsing into a mustard yellow ball of velvet. Derek put his arms around Marcie and let her fake wail.

"Oh, dear, it's fine, just look through the magazine with Rose! Oh dear, dear, dear . . ." Once Marcie finished with her screams of defeat the two of them laid on the ground giggling, finding the tulle poofed up around them endlessly amusing to their strung out brains. Marcie smiled at the scene in front of her - her best friends all so happy, and she was part of the moment. She looked down at her watch and swore.

"Shit, Hogsmeade carriages leave in six minutes." All of the teens jumped up, straightening themselves and their clothes out. Marcie, realizing that she was still wearing the horrid dress, unabashedly stripped right there.

" _Quoi-, argh, bordel de merde_ , a leetle warning Marcie!" Amoury clapped a hand over his eyes, his french accent bleeding through with his surprise. Marcie just laughed as she pulled on her jeans.

"What, don't like what you're seeing, Am?" Amoury, with his hand still clasped firmly over his eyes, said, "Non, you are not, I 'ave a girlfriend 'oo 'ould beat me up eef I said uzzerwise." Yvonne grinned at her boyfriend and pecked him on the cheek.

"Don't listen to him, boo, you're gorgeous - if I was straight, I'd hit that," Derek said, handing Marcie her shirt. Marcie took it with a grin and quickly pulled it over her head. She grabbed her wand and wallet, gave everyone a once over, and, almost like a general, said,

"We're ready, men. Let's head out."

* * *

The group had just barely made it to the great Hall before Hagrid began escorting everyone out to Hogsmeade. The group was able to squeeze inside the carriage, with Marcie right next to Rose looking at the _Malkin's Vogue_ magazine. Madam Malkin had extended her franchise, and she had stores in all the wizarding hubs in Great Britain, including Hogsmeade. The carriage was just rolling up to the Hogsmeade gates when Marcie looked out the window and gasped.

"Oh, look everyone, it's snowing! It's so magical!" She said with a grin.

"Blech. Disgusting." Marcie looked over at Rose, who was frowning an almost comedically deep scowl and jamming all of her hair into a slightly too small Gryffindor cap.

"Let's get this shit over with," Rose said with her continual frown and darted out of the carriage door.

"Fuuuuccckkkkk it's cold," Linda swore, stepping out into the cold and wrapping her cloak around her tighter. Marcie went out of the carriage last, and she could see why Rose was so opposed to the snow. The wind was whipping Marcie's short hair around, the the snow was getting into literally everything, seeping through her slightly too thin peacoat and winter wonderland that was outside of the carriage window was nowhere to be seen when the cold was hitting you full blast. The snow was not pure white, in fact, and was actually sort of a muddy light gray. Marcie shivered against the wind and wrapped her scarf a little tighter around her neck.

"Well shit, this is gross," Marcie said underneath her breath. Marcie thought she said it quietly, but Rose heard.

"Aha! I am not alone in thinking that we will die in this weather!" Rose shouted, pointing a mittened triumphant hand into the air.

"Oh come off it guys, this isn't _that_ bad," Linda, the perpetually cheerful one, chirped, "Be positive!"

"You be positive, I'll be realistic." Rose grumbled, but quit her complaining after.

"Okay, so how about Amoury and Yvonne do their thing romantically speaking, Derek and I check out Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for anything new, and Rose and Marcie go to Madam Malkin's. We'll meet at the Three Broomsticks in, say, three hours?" Linda proposed, blowing on the tips of her fingers in an effort to keep them from freezing over. Everyone but Derek seemed okay with this plan.

"But I wanted to help them figure out what dresses they were getting!" Derek complained, "I am very emotionally invested in their social well being to let them to their own devices." Linda placed a hand on his shoulder with a grin.

"Oh come on, they won't choose anything too horrible as long as the shop attendants are halfway decent people. Besides, I will _not_ third wheel on Amoury and Yvonne, their PDA is just nasty," Linda said, sticking her tongue out in response to Amoury and Yvonne's supposed offense at her last comment. Derek looked as if he were about to protest but was quickly dragged away by Linda to the nearby orange storefront that signified the Weasley Wizard Wheezes store. Amoury and Yvonne bid their farewells and seemed to be making their way over to Madam Puddifoot's for tea ("God help their souls," Marcie had said), while the remaining pair scurried towards the big, if slightly gaudy, store that was Madam Malkin's. Marcie couldn't help herself, as soon as she stepped inside the store her heart skipped a beat and she let out a small gasp. Even stone-cold-bitch Rose had a sharp intake of breath at the sight.

As if anticipating the rush and mob that would come to her store before the Yule Ball, the store seemed to have every space crammed with a dress, mannequin, or changing stall. It was a good thing the property was so big, because it seemed like the entirety of the Hogwarts population was in the store to get their clothes all last minute. The store was split into three parts: on third contained traditionally masculine clothes, the middle third contained a wide array of fairly androgynous robes, and the other third contained traditionally feminine clothes. Marcie and Rose pushed their way over to the girls' section where the formal dresses were and both had to gasp a bit again. The store was three or four stories tall, though the second through fourth floors were just large balconies that contained clothing so the glass top of the shop was visible to everyone even on the first floor. The dresses hung on racks all the way, probably sixty feet high. The dresses themselves were categorized by house colors, and then by style. While Marcie found herself drawn to the shorter gold and black dresses, she saw that Rose was eyeing a particular red dress in the corner. Marcie, trying to be a good friend and put Rose before her, smiled and pulled the dress off the rack. The dress was a deep scarlet, and therefore did not clash horribly with Rose's fiery auburn hair, and it was a tight cutout ensemble that bared the midriff and fell to about the knee. It was outrageously sexy and that was a look that Rose didn't usually go for, but Marcie could see her friend staring at it longingly.

"Here," Marcie said, thrusting the dress into Rose's arms, who held it limply, "Go change." Rose looked as if she were about to nod and then quickly shook her head.

"No, I could never pull this off. Melora, maybe, but not me," Rose made to put the dress back up on the rack. Marcie was going to press, but saw the look on Rose's face and decided against arguing with her. That still didn't stop Marcie from slipping it onto her arm, underneath a pile of dresses she had already picked out.

The two, each with their arms full of dresses, began to try and find an empty changing room while also browsing the wide assortment of accessories that cluttered the third floor of the shop. Marcie found a couple of dressing rooms tucked into a corner behind a hat stall and directed Rose into one of them with laden arms. The two chose each other's first dress, but as much as Marcie liked the red number Rose was eyeing earlier, she decided it would be best to save that one fort last.

"Meh." Rose said after trying on her fifth, and final dress (exempting the red one that was still hidden underneath Marcie's pile of clothes), "I'll just wear something I already have, I'm not really loving any of these dresses."

Marcie had already chosen her dress: The sleeveless number had a high collar with a v-neckline. The gold, shimmery bodice was peppered with large, mirrored chunks of glass that shimmered and gave turned into tiny, gold, magical water droplets that flickered in candlelight. The relatively high waist of the dress was achieved by a black, flowing skirt that fell to the ground with a layer of decorative tulle over it, and also had a slit up the side of the leg. The skirt flowed like a river, enchanted with magic to defy gravity and to swirl like a black waterfall around her legs.

Also, it was only 2 galleons and 12 sickles, if you can even believe that.

But Rose was having a hard time with her dress. Rose said she simply didn't like any of the styles that she tried on, but Marcie knew from the subtle way Rose would subconsciously run a hand over her stomach that some of her best friend's insecurities still lingered in a slight form. Marcie stood up from the small stool that she was waiting on and put her hands around Rose's wrists.

"No, you will wear something new because Merlin help me, you deserve to be the girly-girl you try so hard not to be _one_ night of the year. Who knows, you might even get laid," Marcie said with a smirk, pushing Rose back towards the changing stall. Rose just chuckled and shook her head.

"I'm going to be patrolling for most of the night because -"

" _I'm a head-_ " Marcie said in an exasperated tone, as if she had heard the excuse several times before. Because she had. Marcie grabbed the little red dress Rose had eyed earlier, put it in a bag so Rose couldn't recognize it and reject her outright, and hid it behind her back as Marcie approached Rose.

"Just try it on," Marcie said as she thrust the clothes into her friend's arms, "If you don't like it, don't get it, but I think that you will."

Marcie pushed Rose back into the stall and closed the curtain before Rose had any time to argue. Marcie also slipped a box that contained some shoes and some jewelry in it.

"Just try the shit on already," Marcie said.

"Fuck off," Marcie heard Rose grumble, but she also heard Rose open the dress-bag.

"Marcie, I told you . . . " Rose started when she saw what dress it was, but she didn't finish. Marcie smiled and knew that Rose liked the dress too much to not even try it on.

"D'you need some help with that? We're trying to figure it out too," Marcie's ears pricked up as she heard a conversation just behind the rack of dress robes she was sitting in front of. The voice sounded familiar.

"Oh, um, sure, thanks." _Ok, that voice, is_ definitely _familiar_ _._

Marcie, ever the curious one, peeked over the top of the rack and almost - almost - gasped out loud. Scorpius Malfoy and Hugo Weasley were . . . speaking?

"Dumbledore's speedo . . ." Marcie whispered to herself, not quite sure what to do.

"Although I am very flattered, I do find it a bit disturbing that a girl as young as yourself keeps picturing such a droopy old coot in a skimpy bathing suit," a voice said to the right of Marcie's elbow.

"Argghhhh!" Marcie let out a whispered scream as her arm flew out in surprise, knocking over the table next to her and its contents.

"Hello?" Marcie said, continuing to whisper despite the fact that neither Rose, Hugo, nor Scorpius could probably hear her over the store's music.

"Ahem, down here, Miss Scamander." Marcie looked down by her feet and saw a small portrait of Dumbledore lying among the wreckage of the table. Marcie huffed in annoyance and picked up the gilt frame, which, etched in small writing under the painting, was inscribed with the words "A Malkin's Robes Benefactor". Marcie just shook her head. Dumbledore had recommended students to the Malkin shop for school robes, that was probably just the reason why.

"Is this gonna become a regular thing with you?" Marcie whispered angrily to the kindly man with twinkling eyes. They had met a few more times, all on Dumbledore's terms, all catching Marcie saying some very questionable things. Choosing to ignore the teenage witch's words, Dumbledore spoke quickly and quietly.

"So, did you ask Mr. Malfoy when he was under Veritaserum?"

"Of course," Marcie said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"And?" Dumbledore prodded.

"Totally into her. Admitted to the poem, said they had already hooked up a couple times (just kissing, mind you), and also said that he would ask her to the Ball if they weren't heads and she wasn't so resistant to having fun." Marcie felt a little strange gossiping about her best friend's love life, but Dumbledore didn't make it weird.

"All right, so have you made any attempts to get them together for the Yule Ball? That is-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, a time of great magical convergence, for the holidays are a time of passionate magic, I get it. I _haven't_ had enough time, between finals and quidditch and all, _and_ these people we're talking about are the two most stubborn people in the entire goddamned world." Marcie almost laughed. If only her mother could hear her talking this way to one of the most venerated wizarding heroes.

"I'm quite aware they are, Miss Scamander, that is why I chose you for the job," Dumbledore said, his eyes still twinkling, "I'm as aware as you that Scorpius is just on the other side of this rack, and that Rose is almost finished changing, so now is the time to strike, eh?" Before Marcie could respond, Rose had thrown open the curtain of the stall. _Oh, please know to turn around_ , Marcie prayed and then stuck the portrait underneath her butt and sat down, covering the edges with her coat.

"Whoa re you talking to?" Rose asked, but Marcie didn't even have to lie because she was too stunned by Rose's appearance. The deep red dress was a bodycon, with thin straps and a v-shaped neckline. There were cutouts on the upper abdomen and up the sides of the legs. What Marcie originally thought was sheer gold lace covered these cutouts, but skin was still visible. Instead of lace, it was actually a very thin chainmail of what looked like fire rings. The dress fell to mid calf, and the whole look was completed with gold themed accessories. Thinly spun red tinted glass earrings were held in place by gold posts, with a matching golden necklace. The shoes were high stilettos that were covered golden sparkles and that gave off red sparks every time the heel clicked on to the ground. And Rose pulled it off like a pro model.

"You look sexy," Marcie said bluntly. Rose gave a half-embarrassed smile and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Here, let's find a changing room for a mirr-oh." None other than Scorpius Malfoy, who was pulling Hugo, Fred, and Al along with him, was stopped in his tracks at the sight of Rose. Everyone was silent, waiting for someone to make a move. Scorpius was wearing a pair of emerald green dress robes that fit him quite nicely, with Al wearing an almost identical set and Fred and Hugo in robes of the same design but scarlet in color. Hugo's tie wasn't done quite right - well, actually, none of the boys' ties were done right. Marcie pulled the edge of the portrait out so Dumbledore could see what was going on. Hugo was the first to act, pushing Scorpius' chin up with a resounding _clink_.

"Mind out of the gutter, Malfoy," Al said, picking up on what Hugo was doing.

"Keep it in the pants," Fred resounded the sentiment. Rose, snapped out of her reverie and reached out to Hugo and pulled her towards him.

"Here, let me get that for you, Hugie," Rose said while pulling at his loose tie ends. "Why are you hanging out with these thugs?" Rose asked, looking over her little brother's shoulder.

"Classic Rose, going into full Mama Bear whenever she sees ickle Hugie-Boogie," Fred teases, pulling and the end of Rose's ponytail like he did when they were kids. Rose just made a face and swatted him away and reached towards Al to get his tie. Marcie saw an opportunity and jumped up, sweeping the portrait of Dumbledore underneath her coat while she beckoned to Fred.

"Here, I'll get that for you because Rosie-kins is too mean to do it for you," Marcie said. Fred didn't hesitate to step in front of her, Marcie had been to all of the family gatherings for the past seven years, she was basically another cousin at this point. Expect for the obvious thing that Fred pointed out.

"So you're dating my cousin Lily."

"Yup." Marcie said, popping the "p", "And you're dating Katie Willard." Fred snorted.

"Well, 'dating' is a loose term. I'd say it won't last past the Ball, but whatever."

"Well good luck with that one," Marcie said, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she finished after Rose did with Al. Rose, in fact, already had finished, and Al and Hugo had already started a conversation, leaving a very awkward Rose and Scorpius together.

"You know they're totally into each other, right?" Fred said, his eyes straight ahead. Marcie glanced up at the Weasley boy, smiling slightly.

"Yeah Captain Obvious, but they're just too damn stubborn to admit it. Oh look, she's actually tying his tie, I thought they were just gonna sit around as two idle, useless lumps."

Rose indeed tied Scorpius tie, and she seemed to draw it out for a while, and her hands seemed to rest on Scorpius' chest for just a little bit too long. Marcie and Fred smirked at each other, while Al looked a bit queasy and Hugo mutinous.

"Erm, uh, yeah," Scorpius said as the two broke apart quickly, realizing that they had an audience, "Thanks. You look very pretty by the way." Rose blushed and patted down the non-existent wrinkles in the dress.

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to get it," Rose trailed off, her cheeks still stained a delicate but deep pink.

"Whoa, Scorpius complimenting Rose, and Rose actually _blushing_? Never thought I'd see the day," Al sniggered. Fred decided to join in as well.

"It was always 'I hate Rose because this, I hate Rose because that' for years, so whatever you're doing Rose, keep doing it because it's saving us two an earload of trouble. You do look very pretty by the way, you should definitely get the dress." Rose, angered and annoyed at this point, shook her head.

"No, I'm not getting it," she said. Marcie cast furious glares at Al and Fred. It was their fault Rose wasn't getting a dress she actually liked, the phlegmwads.

"Good choice," Hugo grumbled, putting a protective arm around his much shorter older sister, "I don't want you getting that dress, too many boys will be trying to sleep with you and I'm not about that life."

Well that worked.

"Excuse me?" Rose rounded on her little brother, and she smacked him upside the head not so lightly, "I can wear whatever I damn well please, and if any boy tries to touch me, well, it's my prerogative to rip his dick off then. You, however, have _no_ prerogative to tell me what I can and can't wear, Hugobert Frederick Weasley, and I _will_ rip your dick off if I _ever_ catch you even _thinking_ about a girl in such a disrespectful and sexist way! And that goes for you too , Albus Severus, and you, Frederick Lionel, and _especially_ you, Scorpius Hyperion!" Rose lectured before storming into the changing room. The stunned silence of Rose's family and Scorpius was only punctured by Marcie's sniggers. _Why didn't I try that angle? Rose is the most spiteful creature to ever roam this planet. She si exactly the type of person who would buy this dress in order to prove someone wrong._

Rose walked out of the changing room with huff, not sparing a glance at anyone, and went and checked out, buying the dress and the accessories.

"Well shit." Fred said, unconsciously moving a hand in front of his crotch, "I'm going to go change before I run into any more angry people who threaten to rip my dick off."

"Has she never threatened you guys before? Man, she's been making that threat to me since fourth year," Scorpius, the only male in the area who seemed unaffected by Rose's rant, chuckled. Fred and Al, still slightly shocked, just gave a slight laugh before excusing themselves to change.

"Well boys, I'm going to go buy this dress, but good luck with your genitals staying intact," Marcie sniggered, fetching her coat and surreptitiously putting the painting of Dumbledore up on the stool. She walked towards the checkout counter, where she waved at the fuming but now very cold (which equated to extreme crankiness) Rose Weasley waiting for her outside the shop. Marcie spared a glance back at Hugo and Scorpius and almost had to double take. Hugo seemed to have Scorpius pinned up against the wall, giving him the "You-hurt-my-sister-I-hurt-your-face" talk. Hugo and Scorpius were roughly the same height, but Scorpius was all muscle to Hugo's gangly-ness, but the former made no move to escape. When Hugo finished, he thrusted Scorpius against the wall one more time for good measure before sauntering off. Scorpius gave a faint smile and ran a hand over his face. He went over to a saleslady and gave her a small pouch of coins before waving his wand and transporting the dress robes into a conjured bag. He swaggered out of the store, smiling at Marcie. Scorpius noticed Rose as he crossed the threshold of the store, and he reached over and kissed the back of her hand and sauntered off down the street to meet one of his friends at the Three Broomsticks. Marcie looked over at Rose. The girl was blushing and smiling to herself.

Marcie hummed through the rest of her checkout, so pleased with the progress made today that she didn't even care that the sales clerk probably thought she was insane. Because it was progress, make no mistake about that. Marcie would make sure that her two friends were together by the end of tomorrow's Yule Ball if it was the last thing she ever did.

 **A/N: So yeah. That's the end of the chapter, and the next one will start with Rose's POV for the Yule Ball. That is, if I get 45 reviews. Thank you all so much, and I hope you guys had a great holiday, and here's to a new year that is infinitely less shitty than the last.**

 **Oh! Also, I did a lot of research on this, so these are what the dresses I think look like:**

 **(just copy and paste this after to the google .com bit)**

 **Marcie's dress: **

**/search?biw=1121 &bih=599&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=gold+and+black+evening++dress&oq=gold+and+black+evening++dress&gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30k1.329421455.329422465.5.329422..962.0j2j3.5.0...0...1c.1. ..7.2.454.W2u8PcZRgPM&dpr=2&cad=cbv&bvch=u&sei=LuJqWLroGYHXmAHS36-gAg#tbm=isch&q=gold+and+black+evening+dress&imgrc=Y9JuOiqKR09hLM%3A**

 **Rose's dress is a combo of these:**

 **/search?q=bodycon+red+dress &biw=1121&bih=599&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig1MnvhJvRAhXH7CYKHfc7BpwQ_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=red+cutout+dress&imgrc=7i4pHht32lAHFM%3A**

 **/search?q=lace+on+side+of+the+dress &source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjdidLHhpvRAhUIOSYKHWfRDysQ_AUICCgB&biw=1121&bih=599#imgrc=Cr9WG0s3FXsD6M%3A**

* * *

 **Posted: 1/2/17**


	20. In Which Cookie Dough is Delicious

**A/N: Okay thanks for the 45 - like I said, once I got it, I would have the chapter out. So I plan on maybe two or three more chapter before this story wraps up. Here's Chapter 20, "In Which There's Delicious Cookie Dough"! I'm going to warn you guys, there is some sexual fluffy stuff in this chapter, but not actual smut - I'm keeping this story T. Next chapter will be posted at 50 reviews.**

What Happened Last Chapter:

 _Marcie hummed through the rest of her checkout, so pleased with the progress made today that she didn't even care that the sales clerk probably thought she was insane. Because it was progress, make no mistake about that. Marcie would make sure that her two friends were together by the end of tomorrow's Yule Ball if it was the last thing she ever did._

* * *

 **Sort of Rose's POV?**

Rose had to admit that even she was impressed, which was no easy feat. The Great Hall was transformed into a wintery wonderland. Oversized baubles and garlands hung over every archway and window. The tables had been cleared, and Christmas trees lined the edges of the room. Small bubbles of white light were suspended in the air, casting the room in a shimmery light. A string quartet without actual instrumentalists thrummed in one corner with the slow songs, and then the Eighth Horcrux was set up in another for some more upbeat dancing. Rose had seen most of the disassembled parts of the hall herself, hell she had basically designed the whole room, but this was the first time she had seen it all together with people there. It was beautiful.

Rose surveyed the room nervously. _Is everyone having fun? What if they aren't-_ she stopped herself with a slight shake to her head. Everyone was obviously enjoying themselves, and even if they weren't, they could at least appreciate her, along with the rest of the Head's, work. Rose also may or may not have told Fred to spike the punch that was for the seventh years and that he should let everyone know. At this point, many people may have or may not have been drunk. But who's to say? Rose was no snitch. Rose caught Melora's eye, who was on the dance floor grinding. Melora winked at her potions partner and nodded towards the dessert table where Scorpius was working. Rose blushed and mouthed 'What?' Melora rolled her eyes and mouthed something along the lines of 'Hit that!' Rose gasped and felt her flush extend down through her neck. Rose felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around to find Marcie's grinning, if a little drunk, face.

"You look gorgeous! I'm glad the alterations worked." Rose self-consciously pulled at her hair, which was curled and pulled up into a loosely pinned bun. The dress in question had fit well enough, but Marcie decided at the last minute that it could be just ever so slightly tighter. Rose wasn't exactly uncomfortable in the dress – quite the contrary, she actually felt a confidence she wouldn't expect. It was just she wasn't used to being to exposed to her classmates in such a way. Most people just wore the baggy uniform robes. But it was nice to see everyone actually putting an effort into their appearances. The boys wore Muggle tuxes and dress robes, while the girls tended to wear Muggle dresses, but Rose did see a few girls wearing some really interesting robes as well. Marcie was smiling, her dress reflecting the fairy lights so she had an almost iridescent glow. Lily Potter hung off her arm, giving Marcie an adoring smile. Rose would have bet ten galleons that they were going to be going down into a flaming fight within the following hour. It wasn't that they weren't good people, it was just that they were just too different. But for the moment, Rose tried to reconcile with the fact that her best friend and one of her favorite cousins were going to hook up at some point this night. Again.

"Thanks Marce! I think that you still look like a disco ball."

"Hey!"

"You look like a very _cute_ disco ball. And you look beautiful, Lily. At least one of you in this relationship can clean up," Rose gave a mocking sigh.

"Ah, thanks babe," Lily said. She was calling everyone babe now, much to her girlfriend's chagrin. "Now I'm just going to steal Marcie for a bit . . ." Lily trailed off and the two girls disappeared into some dark corner in a fit of giggles. Rose harrumphed. It was shocking that there wasn't a raging chlamydia epidemic going around with the sexual activity of some of these Hogwarts students.

Rose was standing alone by the main entrance, greeting everyone with a smile. The other Heads were overseeing other duties, such as making sure that people (cough Rocco cough Fred) didn't take an excess of dessert. The steady stream of students coming in had slowed, and even the steady trickle of latecomers was thinning into nothing – everyone who was coming to the Yule Ball was here. Rose could see Yvonne and Amoury dancing in the center of the room, Amoury wearing a sparkling red and green tux and Yvonne wearing a short blue tulle dress. They were a strange pair out on the dance floor, and created a wide circle that no one dared to cross for fear of getting hit by one of their flying limbs. Derek and Linda were off in some corner somewhere, snogging with the rest of the sweethearts. Speaking of sweethearts, Marcie and Lily were slow dancing to the quick beat on the fringe. Rose observed Lily whisper something into Marcie's ear that caused the latter to turn a brilliant red. Rose smirked and rolled her eyes.

While Rose did enjoy overseeing everything (hey, she _was_ the oldest and a child of Hermione Granger), she did wish that she could be out on that dance floor. The professors had charmed the floor to make it sparkle like ice, different colors flashing beneath its translucence in time with the beat. It was a quick song, and Rose began to swing her hips subconsciously to the beat.

"Sweets for a beautiful mademoiselle?" A voice with a sickeningly bad French accent rang in her ear, a large elbow settling on her shoulder. Rose found her lips curving into a smile.

"Scor, you're supposed to be guarding the dessert table." Scorpius feigned hurt.

"Here I am, doing something kind for you, and you reprimand me? Chivalry is dead," Scorpius continued in his horrid French accent.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm not a huge sweets person." Rose said, keeping her eyes on the dance floor but allowing herself to lean a bit on Scoprius. The two had gotten much more physically comfortable with each other as friends. Marcie had begun to force them to spend more time with each other, and the last few weeks of crises known as Yule Ball planning had meant that Rose and Scorpius spent too many nights together burning the midnight oil. Technically Lorcan Scamandar and Alice Longbottom as well, but those two were a couple so it was very uncomfortable to work in the same space for too long. Thus the Heads often split into pairs to deal with the planning. Nothing romantic happened in those few weeks, but quite a few naps were taken on shoulders. Scorpius definitely noticed her lack of tension and he smiled.

"Oh but this isn't just any dessert." Scorpius quirked an eyebrow and moved his elbow from her shoulder to be slung over her shoulders, his hand tracing circles on her bare shoulder.

"Oh?" Rose mumbled distracted by his touch and the scene her friends were making on the dance floor.

"Yup. Cookie dough." Rose gasped, eyes widening.

"But that wasn't on the menu . . . Don't joke about that, its cruel to poor souls such as myself."

"Eh, I pulled a few strings and I got the house elves to make an extra bowl for you and me," Scorpius used his wand to summon the bowl of cookie dough.

"You're literally the best," Rose said, making for the bowl. Scorpius pulled back with a smirk, holding the bowl high above his head, far above Rose's grasp. Rose glared at him but, to her horror, found that he didn't even flinch.

"You have to beg." He said simply.

"Over my dead body," Rose said with a snarl, her lip curling over her teeth.

"Oh well then, I guess I'll just eat it myself." Scorpius scooped a fingerful of the dough into his mouth and moaned dramatically. "Oh this is _so_ good." Rose felt her snarl deepen and she tried to launch herself up Scorpius body, but, unfortunately, jumping in a tight dress and heels that made her feet kill even when she was just sitting down was a bit implausible. Of course, that didn't stop Rose Weasley from trying. She put her hands on his shoulders and kept jumping up, eventually even trying to climb up his body, but Scorpius kept the bowl far above her head. And that damn boy wasn't even ticklish! With a shriek, Rose pulled herself back to collect her breath. Scorpius still had a grip on the bowl of cookie dough, but her looked a bit . . . distracted by something. Rose followed his eyes and realized that they were roving from her face to her chest. Rose smirked, and, admittedly, she may have been a bit buzzed from the flask the Heads had shared earlier to calm their frayed nerves before the ball started. She smoothed back her hair, checked to make sure no one was watching and closed the distance between herself and Scorpius. He was wearing a Muggle tux which even Rose had to say look quite good on him. He had recently gotten his hair cut and Rose could see the five o'clock shadow on his jaw and neck as his Adam's apple bobbed slightly in his throat. Rose placed her hands carefully on his shoulders, before sliding them up to cup his jaw. She leaned close enough to be able to hear and feel his breathing on her cheek, close enough to see his slightly dilated pupils and eyebrows scrunched in confusion, close enough to smell the cookie dough that he ate.

"Rose . . . ?" Scorpius question hung in the air between them as Rose closed the distance even further, brushing her lips against his and letting her eyes flutter shut. Scorpius moved the hand down with the bowl automatically to wrap around her waist and the other to cup the back of her head. He kissed her soundly, his tongue sweeping across her bottom lip. Rose granted him access, burying her hands in his hair. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that he tasted like chocolate. With a start, Rose realized that she had forgotten her objective. She cracked her eyes open and let one hand go to his shoulder while the other went to the one around her waist. With one jerky movement, Rose grabbed the bowl of cookie dough and reluctantly broke away from Scorpius' kiss with a push. She scooped a bit of her prize into her mouth and reveled slightly in the fact that Scorpius looked like he had been clubbed over his head. He ran a hand through his hair, as if wondering where Rose's went before focusing his eyes on Rose, who was jubilantly eating her prize. However, Rose was shocked by the fact that a confused or even angry expression wasn't on his face. Instead, he just laughed and pulled her towards him. Rose danced out of his reach, and it turned into a game of cat and mouse around the Great Hall, dodging and weaving between snogging couples in dark corners and possibly drunk dancers. Somewhere along the way, Rose lost her heels in the room, along with any inhibitions she may have had. She shrieked with laughter every time Scorpius' fingers ghosted the back of her dress. Likewise, Scorpius was grinning and laughing through short bursts of breath.

Eventually, Rose found herself backed into a corner behind the staff table. She turned around in a mild panic and realized that Scorpius was right behind her. He growled playfully and Rose gave a slight shriek when he grabbed her hips and picked her up. Her shriek was cut off by the firm kiss Scorpius planted on her, and Rose's eyes fluttered shut again. The bowl (luckily plastic) fell from her hands and clattered noisily onto the ground and she wrapped her arms around his neck. When the two finally came up for air, she realized that she was subconsciously massaging the short hairs on the back of his neck. Scorpius rested his forehead against hers as he lowered her to the ground. Rose followed the tiny trickle of sweat that was making its way down the side of his cheek.

"You . . ." Rose began breathlessly, "You taste like chocolate. And firewhisky." She added. Scorpius laughed soundly, and Rose could feel the vibrations go through her own body and she smiled. Scorpius pressed a kiss on her forehead, nose, top lip, bottom lip and then to both lips. The two were there for at least ten minutes. just snogging, before they got interrupted.

"Well well well." A voice made Scorpius pull back from the kiss, but neither he nor Rose broke apart completely. Melora Goldstein was standing in front of the two of them with a glass of punch in her hand. She was smiling wildly, and the body glitter she was wearing made her seem even more radiant. Marcie stood on the right side of her shoulder. Fred and Rocco stood off her other shoulder. They were all grinning except for Fred, who looked faintly nauseous.

"It's about time, mate! We thought you'd just mope around for the rest of your pathetic loser life," Rocco said with a grin.

"Good job Rosie." Marcie winked.

"I don't trust myself to speak too much without vomiting because that's my cousin, but . . ." Fred trailed off, "I suppose I allow it." Rose glanced at Scorpius with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks you guys for your permission, though I don't think we were asking for it?" Rose laughed.

"I know, I am such a good soul. My life is honestly just so challenged . . ." Fred trailed off with a dramatic hand to his forehead whilst being led away by the motley crew. Both Rose and Scorpius sat in amused silence.

"Well that was interesting." Scorpius said with a laugh.

"You're lucky Hugo didn't see. He's a lightweight, and I guarantee you that he's already gotten into the punch."

"Eh, he's already given the protective talk."

"What'd he say?"

"Oh the usual. Everything along the lines of 'you even harm on hair on her head and your dick is ripped clean off.'" Rose giggled, but her attention was pulled again when the big Great Hall clock chimed midnight.

"Oh shit!" Rose exclaimed, pulling herself back.

"Please tell me that this isn't some shitty Cinderella move," Scorpius groaned, attempting to pull her back towards him. Rose shook her head.

"How do you know about Cinderella?" Rose asked, pulling her hair back into its bun.

"Muggle Studies." Scorpius said, adjusting his tie and collar, "So what are you doing?" He followed Rose around the Great Hall as she answered.

"We have to leave for Auror training at eight tomorrow, remember? They're going to have us apparate to the Ministry. If I want to get any sleep tonight, I should go now."

"Oh fucking hell." Scorpius exclaimed. Rose sighed and picked up her second lost shoe from the floor.

"You totally forgot to pack, didn't you?"

"Yup," Scorpius said through his teeth, cursing himself for his stupidity. Rose looked up to the ceiling, wishing that she wasn't so nice.

"You know, I'm going to regret this, but I'll help you pack."

"Really? I don't want to be a-" Rose cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"Don't say another word or you'll make me change my mind." Scorpius nodded and the two left the Great Hall, in which the party still raged.

"You know, you owe me big time, I am already packed because I knew that I would want as much sleep as possible . . ." Scorpius smiled at Rose's annoyed ramblings, much to her chagrin.

"You laughing at my problems?" she snapped.

"You're just so pretty when you're angry."

"I'm gonna fuck you up."

"I don't doubt that." Scorpius and Rose had made it to the door to his dormitory and Scorpius snuck a kiss in. Rose just huffed and tickled the pear painting. Scorpius led the way up to his bedroom and Rose could tell that he was struggling to keep in a dirty joke.

"Oh, just say it," Rose sighed.

"Hey, it's not my fault this whole situation is weird."

"It's only weird if you say its weird." Rose shot back as she flopped down on to his pristinely made bed. Scorpius plopped down next to her, but Rose pushed him off.

"Nope. You have to pack. I'm just gonna read the list." Scorpius rolled his eyes and accioed his suitcase while Rose conjured the packing list the Auror office had provided with a flourish of her wand.

"Seven T-Shirts or some other athletic top."

"Check."

"Seven pairs of shorts.

"Yup."

"Sneakers."

"Done."

"Boots."

"Got it."

"Ten pairs of socks."

"Check."

"Ten pairs of underwear. Don't give me that look, Scor."

"Got 'em."

"To be completely honest, I was expecting some man thongs from you, but I stand corrected. Anyways, three suits, dress robes, or formal outfits."

"Check."

"Three Muggle Outfits."

"Yeah."

"Quills, parchment, etc."

"One sec . . . got it."

Once they had finally gotten through brooms, coats, schoolwork, wands, and everything else, it was almost two thirty in the morning and the cookie dough bowl was decidedly empty and scraped clean. Rose yawned loudly.

"I'm gonna kill you for cutting in on my sleep." Her eyes drooped. She had already cleared off her makeup and put down her hair, but her dress was starting to weigh down her body uncomfortably. Scorpius didn't look much more awake than she did. She stood up as if to start heading back to her dorm before Scorpius pushed her back down.

"Nah, you're too tired. You'll probably fall down a moving staircase. Just stay here for the night, it's not a big deal. Consider it my thank you for helping you out."

"Scor, seriously –"

"Yeah, I am being serious. C'mon, lemme see if I have something for you. Besides, if you die, it's on my conscience." He pulled open his drawers to realized the only clothes he had left as a dress shirt and some boxers.

"Scorpius, you don't even have anything I can change into . . ."

"Look, we're friends here. Besides, you're exhausted and I'm too tired to bring you back to your dorm to make sure you don't die. So here." He tossed Rose the dress shirt and kept the boxers for himself. "That's long enough to cover the essentials." Rose scoffed but was too tired to really argue.

"But there's no pants!"

"Oh my god Rose, it's not like I have seen a girl's underwear before." The two had a staring match before Rose grudgingly gave in. She was really just too tired and she didn't feel like falling off one of the moving staircases.

"Turn around you perv," She grumbled. Scorpius rolled his eyes but acquiesced. Rose pulled the dress down her body, wincing as her elbow popped. She groaned internally when she realized that she was wearing her confidence underwear, which meant that it was a black lacy bra and pair of underwear that was unusually skimpy for Rose. It wasn't a thong, but still. This was _Malfoy_ she was going to wear them in front of. She shook her head and buttoned the old dress shirt up. Scor was right, it really fell to mid thigh and so all the essentials were covered, She turned around and promptly flushed when she saw Scorpius brushing his teeth in the bathroom wearing only the boxers. And what she found revolting was that she wasn't exactly upset with the view. She tried to calm herself before Scorpius saw her and arrogantly called her out on it. She walked to the bathroom and Scorpius gave an appreciative glance. Rose scoffed and Scorpius spit into the sink.

"So are you just gonna stand there checking me out or do you need something in here?" Scorpius asked. _Damn him._

"Not much of a view, Malfoy. But I do need a toothbrush."

"Oh babe, we both know I'm a greek god." Scorpius danced out of the way of Rose's incoming slap an pointed to the cabinet shelf on the side of the sink Rose was on. "Extra toothbrushes are on the top shelf. Be sure to get a new one, Fred and Rocco use the open ones when they're here and hungover." Rose made a face of disgust. Why must her cousin be so gross? Rose stood on her tip toes and began to grasp for a toothbrush. _Fuck Mom's short genes_. Rose thought darkly. She heard a strangled noise behind her just as she grabbed a brush.

"Merlin's balls, Weasley, are those lace?" Rose flushed and realized that the shirt had ridden up so the bottom part of her ass was visible. However, instead of letting it be awkward, Rose decided to smirk.

"What, do you not like the view?" Rose would be ashamed to admit that she might have shaken her butt a little bit. Scorpius growled appreciatively, but Rose ducked his kiss and began to scrub her teeth. Scorpius settled on just standing behind her and putting his arms over her shoulders in a bear-like hug. Rose felt him kiss her cheek and heard him growl in her ear, "Sometimes Weasley, you just . . ." Rose spit in the sink and washed off the brush, very aware that Scorpius' very much naked chest was pressed on her back. She plucked her contacts out, gave her face one more once over and then promptly whirled around and pushed Scorpius into the wall.

"Wea-?" Scorpius was cut off by a very demanding kiss from Rose. He responded enthusiastically, lifting up her bare legs and put them around his waist. Rose smiled into the kiss as he led her back to the bed. He began kissing his way back down her cheek, down to her neck. Rose's breath hitched and her head turned to the side. _Oh God, is it really that time?_ She gently pushed Scorpius off her. His face was confused and slightly hurt, but Rose was quick to reassure.

"Scor, it's three thirty in the morning, we need to go to bed."

"But-"

"Scorpius."

"Oh, all right." Scorpius huffed and flopped down next to Rose, but not before placing a kiss on her cheek. Rose smiled and allowed Scorpius to pull her into a spooning position. The two exhausted teenagers lay there, their legs intertwined. She wasn't sure why she said it then, but all she knew is that it was true. Rose thought Scorpius had already drifted off to sleep when she murmured this, but his stiffening body behind her meant that he heard exactly what she had said. _Oh shit. Why the fuck did I say 'I love you' out loud?_

 **A/N: Next chapter posted at 50 reviews. See you next time, and love y'all!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 4/22/17**


	21. In Which Scorpius Gets His Ass Kicked

**A/N: *runs and hides behind a dumpster like the trash I am* Holy shit guys I am so sorry. I'll be completely honest, I didn't have this chapter written :3 once I hit 50 reviews, and then I had a month of AP testing and standardized testing, and then school is winding down, and I really have not good excuse. Anyways, this chapter is going to be set up a little differently, in that it is going to encompass about half of the events throughout the winter break. This one is longer than all of my others, but I felt like I needed to say a lot and I didn't have a place to stop it earlier. Also, there might be some spelling issues, just because I wanted to get this chapter to all of you as soon as I could! Introducing Chapter 21, "In Which Scorpius Gets His Ass Kicked (By literally everything)"!**

 **What Happened Last Chapter:**

 _Scorpius huffed and flopped down next to Rose, but not before placing a kiss on her cheek. Rose smiled and allowed Scorpius to pull her into a spooning position. The two exhausted teenagers lay there, their legs intertwined. She wasn't sure why she said it then, but all she knew is that it was true. Rose thought Scorpius had already drifted off to sleep when she murmured this, but his stiffening body behind her meant that he heard exactly what she had said. Oh shit. Why the fuck did I say 'I love you' out loud?_

* * *

 **Scorpius POV, because it's about damn time.**

Scorpius awoke to the ringing of his wand on the nightstand. He blindly reached one arm behind him and shook the wand to make the alarm turn off. He groaned and turned over to face Rose.

"Ugh, sorry love, but we gotta start gett-" Scorpius eyes snapped open when he realized the space next to him in the bed was cold. Her side of the bed was made and a pile of neatly folded clothes lay on the pile for him. Scorpius resisted the urge to snort, Rose was so extra. Scorpius pulled himself out of his bed with a miserable moan, grabbed his clothes, and headed to the bathroom. He gave a small smile when he saw the little red toothbrush Rose had used the night prior and grabbed his own. After a quick brush, putting on his clothes, and running through everything he needed, Scorpius grabbed his duffel and headed down to the Great Hall. Luckily, he had gotten his ass out of bed and ready with twenty minutes to spare before they had to leave for the Auror training program. Scorpius' eyes, which had begun to droop shut with sleep, jolted open with a start, He didn't quite think about how insane this was. He was heading off for a three week intensive for a job that wasn't even guaranteed to him in the end. Oh, and last night he told Rose he loved her. Not that he didn't, he just didn't think he would say it so _soon_. Lost deep in thought, Scorpius didn't truly pay attention until he was already in the Great Hall and scarfing down a stack a pancakes when Rose plopped down next to him.

'Morning Scor!" She said brightly, and kissed him on the cheek. Scorpius groaned internally. Of _course_ Rose was a morning person. Of-fucking-course. Scorpius grunted his response, and he managed to murmur his responses to her bright but nervous ramblings. He believed that he was being quite amicable all things considering until she reached for his plate.

"What the?-" Rose's hand was slapped away by Scorpius, who pulled the plate closer to his chest with a growl.

"Mine." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Dude, I was just going for a chocolate chip."

"I know. But this stuff is mine."

"You do realize that couples usually share food, right?" Rose asked sarcastically. Scorpius' eyes shot up, his knife clattering to the table (not his fork, mind you. He still had enough mental faculties to keep using _that_ to shovel the delicious flapjacks into his mouth).

"Couple?" Scorpius asked through a mouth full of pancakes. At least that what he thought he said. It is very possible that it came out as "hurblegurble?" Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust, and Scorpius would swear, slight amusement.

"We literally shared a bed last night Scor, I think you can share some chocolate. It's what good boyfriends do, right?" Rose laughed, popping a berry in her mouth.

"Boyfriend?" Scorpius coughed, still attempting to swallow his bite with a gulp of double shot espresso. Now please realize that Scorpius had rolled out of bed about thirty minutes prior, his coffee had yet to kick in, and he still had to shake off the tired fog from his mind. So when Rose was starting to say "couple" and "boyfriend" at seven thirty in the morning, he was having trouble following. He wasn't _opposed_ to being a couple, but it was really early and he and Rose hadn't even had a legitimate conversation about where any of this was going. But as soon as he saw Rose's face fall, he knew that he had said the wrong thing. The word couple just seemed too fatalistic, and Scorpius just wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Sorry, I- I mean, I guess I just assumed . . . never mind." Rose's face was starting to steadily turn beet red. Scorpius frantically struggled to swallow his hulking bite, but Rose was already out of the Great Hall before he could get a word in edgewise. Scorpius slammed his head down on the table. _Stupid stupid stupid._ With a sigh, Scorpius finished up the rest of his breakfast and then left the Great Hall to find Rose. He spotted Rose's fiery red hair right beside the Grand Entrance. With a grunt, he adjusted the strap of his duffel over his shoulder and made his way towards her, an apology already dancing off the tip of his tongue. However, much to his chagrin, Scorpius found that Rose and the two other accepted (both exchange) students were already standing by the accompanying Auror. While the two students Scorpius didn't know (both from Uagadou) lounged against the wall yawning, Rose was in an animated conversation with the Auror. A very young, very good looking Auror talking to Rose that instinctively made bile begin to rise in Scorpius' throat. Scorpius tried to tamp down his jealousy - they weren't exclusive, after all - but he was fairly certain that Rose could see the signs. His downcast eyes, his sneer that he couldn't quite keep off his face, the nervous licking of his lips. He sat down against the staircase, awkwardly twiddling his thumbs. Luckily, Rose decided to take pity on him.

"Scorpius," she called. The boy snapped his head up and walked over to Rose and the Auror.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Malfoy. Pleasure to meet you, I am Birungi, I'll be escorting the four of you to the Training Camp." The man stuck his hand out with a brilliant smile. Scorpius hated him already. His handshake was too . . . oh, who was he kidding? Birungi had an amazing handshake. It was strong and assertive. Scorpius was all too conscious of that one scar on jaw line when he looked at Birungi's flawless, dark skin. Rose was smiling and batting her eyes at the Auror, who, as the quintent began the walk off the grounds to Apparate, explained that he was only three years older than them and that he had just finished coming off a mission that was, of course, classified. Scorpius was trying extremely hard not to be jealous, but once Rose, when laughing at a bad joke of Birungi's, put her hand on his arm, he couldn't help himself. He grabbed Rose's other hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"How did you sleep last night, babe?" Scorpius couldn't help but smirk when he noticed the imperceptible, split-second raise of Birungi's eyebrows. Rose just seemed like she was holding in a laugh.

"Oh, just great, _babe_ , how was your night? Lonely without me?" Birungi coughed uncomfortably.

"You can't even imagine," Scorpius murmured in Rose's ear. Birungi suddenly seemed to remember the other two students he was accompanying, and he slipped back to begin a conversation with them. Rose quickly released Scorpius' hand and rolled her eyes.

"What?" Scorpius asked, confused. _Why the hell is Rose still acting like this?_

"You can't get off that easy, Flyboy," Rose said while speeding up to distance herself from Scorpius, "You can still go fuck yourself."

"What the hell?" Scorpius groaned, and he jogged to stay in pace with her. He put an arm around her shoulder so she couldn't run off again. "If this is about this morning-"

"No. Remove your arm Malfoy, before it and a testicle of yours are for you." Rose said stiffly, not leaning into his embrace like she usually did. Scorpius frowned but didn't move his arm.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I just wasn't expecting that so early in the morning. _Of course_ I want to go steady with you, but we hadn't even discussed anything official yet and I was not prepared for this so early in the morning while I was still choking on a pancake." Rose's hair still formed a curtain between her face and his, but Scorpius could feel her just barely relax her shoulders.

"No, Scorpius. You don't get to say that you love me, then act like it didn't happen the next day. I'm not going to play the fool Scorpius Malfoy. I'm not going to snog you and then let you off without a title or responsibility. And I'm having a hard time believing that I just caught you off guard. I don't want to force you into anything, but I won't wait around on something that's not going to happen." Scorpius felt little needles poke at his heart at the sound of her ragged voice.

"Rose, I, for some Merlin foresaken reason, love you. A lot. I promise, I will kiss you in front of the entire school when we get back. While everyone is sober and can remember it too. Just please, please forgive me." And he meant it. Scorpius felt like the biggest asshole in the world, but his heart soared when he saw her hesitant smile as she flicked back her hair.

"Kiss me you idiot."

Scorpius didn't hesitate, even if they were right in front of other people, and it was one of the best damn snogs he had ever had.

* * *

They reached the bottom of the hill Hogwarts was on after several more minutes of trekking, and as soon as they passed a simple wooden stake that signified the end of the grounds, Birungi gathered them all up into a circle.

"Okay, so we're going to apparate to the Ministry of Magic in Britain, where we will pick up a portkey and get to Bunker Eight. That is the training ground for Aurors, and it's location is classified, so that is why we are going there by Portkey and not just give you guys the address to apparate to. Once we reach the Bunker, you will be split up into different groups, one through twenty eight. These groups may or may not be split up and/or reformed as the training sessions continue on, it is up to the judgement of your instructors. After you all are split up into your groups, the trainers will take you to your groups' respective accommodations and then your training will begin. Any questions?" Everyone was silent. Scorpius fidgeted with his duffel, uncomfortable under Birungi's sharp stare.

"All right then. As you can imagine, this apparation is a test. We expect only the best and brightest, and as you all have passed your apparation exam, I expect no problems. However, as some can slip through the cracks, it is always best to check. Any sort of splicing whatsoever, mistiming, or ending up in the wrong location, you are immediately disqualified from the Auror program, and you will be returned to your school. We will apparate to the central fountain of the main lobby." Scorpius gulped and nodded, hoping that his palm wasn't sweating too much in Rose's. Birungi glanced at the two and gave a look of distaste.

"This activity does have to be done separately, obviously," he sneered. Well, in retrospect, maybe he didn't sneer, but Scorpius only saw the worst in Birungi at that moment. Instead of giving any sort of reason to be disqualified, Scorpius reluctantly let go of Rose's hand and they steadied themselves. Scorpius concentrated on his vision of the Ministry's lobby, perfecting the image so it was crystal clear in his mind.

 _POP!_

Scorpius opened his eyes to the bright lights of the Ministry lobby and the throbbing of his left pinky. He looked down and saw that a tiny chunk had come out of his finger and it was beginning to ooze blood. Birungi seemed to be inspecting the Uagadoun students carefully. Scorpius looked up at Rose with panicked eyes, and Rose, realizing his predicament closed her hand of Scorpius and murmured a few spells underneath her breath. The cut instantly healed and the flesh grew back, and Scorpius nodded his thanks while wiping off the excess blood on the inside of his jacket. He wasn't bad, per se, at apparating, it's just that he would occasionally splice when under pressure. And this was a pretty stressful situation.

Birungi took Scorpius hands and inspected them closely. The latter prayed that the Auror didn't notice or care about the still slightly pink flesh on his pinky. Luckily, it seemed as if Birungi, after a long inspection that Scorpius was pretty sure went longer than anyone else's, was thoroughly satisfied that Scorpius hadn't spliced and moved on to Rose. After a gruff grunt of approval, his gestured four his four charges to follow after him into the bowels of the Ministry. All along the way, Birungi gave instruction and advice as to what to expect in the coming weeks.

"Now, as you all probably know by this point, the first week consists of half day sessions of physical training and cuts, and the other half day are classes for the various Auror specialties. Morning Patricia," Birungi grinned and winked in acknowledgement to the secretary in front of the elevators, who in turned giggled slightly, charmed by Birungi's gaze. "Your instructors can and will cut out most of the trainees at any time during this period. Your groups will begin with about twenty, but don't expect any more than four or five to make it into the second week. Speaking of which-" Birungi abruptly cut off when he led the students into an elevator, where several other Ministry employees were. "Level Two, please." Scorpius glanced nervously at Rose, who in turn slipped her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Once the employees had all left and it was just the quintet alone again, Birungi continued his spiel.

"Anyways, your second week will mostly likely be classroom testing and practicals in the morning and then some more specialized, hardcore training in the afternoons. It is then that you will be assigned your squads which, if you are successful, will stay together through the beginnings of your employment. Often, but not always, if one person in your group fails, the whole squad will be disqualified, or at the very least, be broken up as the failure is sent home."

"How is this guy not out of breath?" Scorpius mumbled go Rose, who covered her mouth to prevent her short, gasping giggles from being heard. The group was charging down a maze of hallways, and while all four seventeen year olds were almost dying from exhaustion, Birungi didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.

"That man is part giant," Rose said, "Tall and good at cardio."

"And he smells like shit."

"Merlin Scorpius, no he doesn't. And even if he did, you shouldn't be going around saying that," Rose laughed, "It seems like you'll get cut for much less than disrespect here."

"Eh, screw it. The guy's an ass."

"You're just saying that because I was flirting with him to make you jealous."

"Aha! So that _was_ to make me jealous?"

"Oi, shut up. It worked, didn't it."

"Touché." Birungi led them even further into the bowels of the Ministry, before abruptly stopping in front of a pair of unassuming double doors. He turned around and looked at the group.

"Then, in your third week, your instructors will split you up into pairs, in which you will be given a case. the pairs are split up by rankings, which the instructors will keep a strict list of during your training. These are, by the way, real cases, because they want you to feel the pressure and importance. They are, of course, small cases that are not extremely important and usually do not include intel unless the instructors truly believe that you will pass. Your case file will tell you how long you have to plan and gather all the necessary materials. Any questions?" Birungi asked, though it was fairly obvious that the correct answer to that question was "no", at least going by his faint glare at everyone.

"Good," He said, before turning around and tapping the door a few times with his wand. It opened up into a long, extremely narrow room with a ceiling so high you couldn't see it and at least one hundred little tables. Some of them had objects on them, while some of them were empty. An old brass sign was above the door that said 'Portkey Room'. Birungi walked them down the line of tables until they came upon a chipped wine glass.

"All right, everyone grab on in three, two one." Scorpius lunged forward and grabbed onto a part of the rim. He swore as he felt the goblet slice his finger, but he grimanced and held on. The world began to spin all around him and Scoprius felt his feet lift off the ground. He could feel the wind whipping against his face and whistling in his ears, but all he could see was darkness. All of a sudden, as if they were at the top of a very long tube, he saw a small circle of land coming closer and closer. Scorpius closed his eyes and braced for impact. This was always the worst part. His feet made hard contact with the ground and he put a bloodied fist to the ground to regain his balance. luckily, he wasn't the only one - Rose was on her hands and knees and one of the Uagadou students had completely faceplanted. Only the other Uagadou student and birungi managed to maintain their position, the latter of whom gave Scorpius a cheeky smirk. Scorpius barely bit back a grumble as he straightened - that cheeky smirk was _his_ signature move, and it was disconcerting to see it on someone even more attractie, and dare he say it, almost able to rival in its cockiness. Scorpius reached out a hand to help Rose up, but Birungi stopped them with a raised eyebrow and a clearing of his throat.

"No intermingling during training. Sorry," Birungi said, not looking very sorry at all, "I don't make the rules." Scorpius reluctantly withdrew his hand from Rose's and watched as she got up and dusted herself off.

"It's only three weeks," Scorpius whispered to Rose, who smirked and pranced around in front of him.

"Good luck keeping your hands off this," Rose laughed. She tripped over a root and landed on her butt for the second time within two minutes. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"I'll try to contain myself." Scorpius jogged to catch up with the rest of the group, who seemed to be trekking through some woods until they reached their destination. He fell into step with one of the Uagadou students - the one who didn't fall.

"So what's your name?"

"I'm not here to make friends," the teenager said in a faint accent.

"O-kayyyyy then," Scorpius said, and he stepped back to talk to the other Uagadou student.

"Don't mind Ochen, he's had a stick up his butt since he came to Uagadou. Tumo," the boy said, holding out a hand with a brilliant grin that contrasted severely with Ochen's deep scowl.

"Scorpius," Scorpius smiled back and shook Tumo's hand, "So how old are you?"

"Eighteen. You?"

"Just turned eighteen a few days ago."

"Happy birthday then! Do anything special?"

"Nah, I was helping plan my school's annual Yule Ball, and so we kept it pretty lowkey. My friends brought me out to play quidditch."

"Oh, you organized the Yule Ball? That was awesome, I had a lot of fun last night!" Tumo said appreciatively.

"Thanks," Scorpius, before nodding over his shoulder, "Be sure to tell Rose that, she was really the one who pulled it all together. She was going batshit crazy last night, hoping everyone had fun." Tumo laughed again.

"So what about your girlfriend?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"What did your girlfriend do for your birthday?"

"Wha-oh, uh, yeah, Rose made me a cake. She's an amazing baker."

"What kind of cake?"

"Chocoate, of course."

"Oh, that's the best. I hope they have good food here, but I talked to my brother, who's an International Auror, and he said that the food sucks."

"Ah, shit, really?" Scorpius whined. Tumo shrugged and grinned again.

"So what kind of specialty did you apply for?" Tumo asked.

"Espionage. You?"

"Battle," Tumo replied. Scorpius appraised Tumo. He was tall and gangly, though there was a little muscle. He had small, round glasses that were perched on the edge of his nose and his head was shaved. His eyes were dark and piercing, but he had a very bright smile. Overall, Scorpius probably would have guessed him to be the more intellectual type. Tumo laughed, a deep, resounding sound from his chest.

"Surprised? You're not the only one. But if I do say so myself, I am a fairly good wizard. I'm even an Animagus." Tumo puffed out his chest proudly.

"Holy shit, really?" Scorpius asked impressed, his eyebrows raised. He was a bit jealous, to be honest.

"Yeah, at sixteen they teach all students at Uagadou to turn into either elephants or cheetahs," Tumo said before morphing into a cheetah himself. Scorpius stumbled back a bit at the quick transformation.

"That's fucking awesome!" Scorpius said. Tumo-Cheetah let out an appreciative growl.

"Hey, no magic until we get to the compound!" Birungi called over his shoulder crossly. Scorpius would have sworn that Tumo-Cheetah rolled his eyes before morphing back into human form.

"How have we never hung out?" Scorpius asked in amazement.

"Well, for one, I've only been here for a few days. I'm staying for the second semester, and Ochen and I came early because we had to come here for Training anyways. Also, I've been rooming with the Hufflepuffs, and something tells me you don't, uh, how do you say, 'hang out' with that crowd."

"I have nothing against Hufflepuffs, but yeah, most of my friends are Gryffindor or Slytherin," Scorpius frowned in thought before clapping Tumo on the shoulder. "But, if you want, you can always come room with me - Head Dorm privileges."

"I might just consider that," Tumo grinned. However, their conversation as cut short when they came over the last hill and saw the Compound. It was in the middle of bowl-shaped valley, and some magic glimmered in a dome around the whole valley. There were at least thirty five buildings, all made out of stone or concrete. There was a big central circular field, in which Scorpius saw, among other things, a rock wall, magic dummies, and a pond that was coursing like a river. Seven large avenues jutted out from around the training ground, and the buildings, which were large and small in seemingly no particular order, lined the streets. Scorpius could see some young adults in uniforms waling around, and some older people wearing dress uniforms pacing outside of the largest building. Scorpius felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Rose jumping up and down, trying to see over everyone's shoulders. Scorpius smirked at her red face and annoyed expression but let her go around him so she could see.

"This is the Compound," Birungi said blithely, gesturing grandly to the sight in front of him, "Though I'm sure you already knew that. That big building and all the ones surrounding it on the west side of campus are HQ and offices. On the north end, the more medium sized buildings are the experimentation labs. Don't go anywhere near them without full body protection or the hair will burn off your head from the fumes of some potion. On the east end, you have tactical and dormitories for active Britain-based Aurors. However, you guys don't need to worry about any of that, because you all are going to be sticking to the south end of the campus, where the training grounds, classrooms, and dorms are, and the Training Circle, which is that big lawn in the middle. Now, I am going to lead you to Circle where your instructors are waiting to divide you into your groups. Then they will give you instructions and take you to your dormitories. I will say good luck to you all now." Birungi's normally cold eyes softened as he looked at them all. "Chances are you won't be seeing any of these people for the next three weeks. Kick some ass." They began the trek down into the Valley. Scorpius was having a hard time swallowing around the big lump in his throat and he adjusted the shoulder strap of his duffel. He felt a small hand slide into his own and give a quick, reassuring squeeze before withdrawing quickly. Scorpius looked over his shoulder at Rose and shot her a small smile, which she returned. When he turned back around, Scorpius saw Tumo giving him a knowing snicker, to which Scorpius just rolled his eyes and told him to bugger off. When they came upon the green, there was a massive man with a bugle standing in front of a pile of random objects, presumably portkeys. There were a couple different tables that had different numbers and little slips of paper on them.

"This brings back some horrible memories of a muggle camp I went to when I was little," Rose muttered in my ear, gripping her backpack a little tighter.

"You went to a muggle camp?" I asked incredulously, "I always wanted to go to one! What do you mean 'horrible memories'?"

"Well, aside from the gut-wrenching home sickness I had, it was also the first time Hugo showed magical signs."

"How old were you guys?"

"Nine and six."

"Six? That's pretty early to show noticeable magic."

"Don't I know it. He had lightning spouting out of his fingers tips and I had to pretend that he and I snuck off to the fireworks tent and stolen some. Needless to say, we got kicked out." Scorpius laughed at Rose's scowl and the two turned their attention to the man with the bugle.

"OKAY THEN TRAINEES, WHAT GROUP ARE YOU FROM?" Birungi stepped forward, though he didn't need to - he towered over everyone in the group.

"Great to see you Odin. Group Delta-Merlin-351." The bugle-man looked down at his list and began flicking through the pages.

"LET ME SEE, DELTA-MERLIN-35 . . . 1! HERE WE GO. OCHEN BIGOMBE, PLEASE PROCEED TO TABLE TWENTY SIX AND PICK UP YOUR NAME TAG AND . . . THIS BOOT." Odin fished around in the pile in front of him and kicked out the boot. Ochen wrinkled his nose.

"Why do we need a portkey to get to our cabin?" He asked, quite snottily Scorpius would say. Odin stared at Ochen, and, though still resolute in stance, the younger man's throat began to bob.

"I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ANSWER YOU, BUT FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THE AUROR OFFICE IS NOT GOING TO WASTE RESOURCES ON TAKING EACH ONE OF YOU LITTLE SHITS TO YOUR CABINS WHEN WE COULD JUST USE PORTKEYS. NOW PICK UP THE DAMN BOOT." Thoroughly chastised, Ochen lunged for the boot and when shooting off into the sky. The boot appeared a few seconds late at Odin's feet.

"ANY MORE STUPID QUESTIONS?" Odin asked. Scorpius correctly assumed that that question was rhetorical.

"GOOD. NOW, WHO'S NEXT? AH, TUMOS GHASIA. NUMBER TWO, RUBBER DUCKY." Tumo grabbed a hold of the duck and Odin turned back to the group.

"SCORPIUS MALFOY, FRONT AND CENTER." Scorpius walked self-consciously to stand in front of Odin. _What the fuck? I am_ never _self conscious. Thrusting thestrals, pull your shit together, Malfoy._

"NUMBER TWO AS WELL." Scorpius went over to the table and saw his same scrawled neatly on a sticky slip of paper. He stuck it to the front of his shirt and ran back to his previous position.

"EAGER FELLOW, EH? WELL THEN, THE RED GOBSTONE. WAIT, WAIT, NO, THE _RED_ ONE, YOU DAFT DOUGHNUT." Malfoy felt his cheeks turn as red as the Portkey gobstone when he narrowly missed picking up a canary-colored sphere. He coughed an picked up the right gobstone and he barely had time to look at Rose before he felt himself flying through the air, then quickly back down in the front of the opening to a bunk room. The room was filled with two bunks, with a large dresser for each one. Scorpius walked in tentatively and he saw that seven out of the twenty-ish bunks were already taken. Scorpius spotted Tumo, who grinned excitedly and waved Scorpius over to his bunk. Tumo had taken the lowest bunk and was already busy transferring his clothes into three of the six drawers. There was no ladder, so Scorpius had to hoist himself up onto his bunk. The bed was comfortable enough, and despite the chill outside, the thin blanket must have been charmed to hold heat. Scorpius took out his toiletries and sent a mental thank you to Rose for slipping in a razor, which he had totally forgot. He jumped back down to the ground to start putting away his clothes, and he wrinkled his nose at the size of his two drawers.

"That's _all_ the space we're given? I have dress robes, for Merlin's sake, those can't be wrinkled." Tumo rolled his eyes at Scorpius. He opened on of his drawers and stepped in. He sunk all the way down to his waist and raised an eyebrow.

"Expansion charmed, for your convenience," he said, before hopping out of the drawer. Scorpius liked this kid's snark already. He pulled out all of his carefully folded clothes and put them inside. Meanwhile, most of the rest of their bunk filed in. However, Scorpius didn't see any Trainer.

"Where's our Trainer?"

"Came in right before you left and told us what to do and to tell all the rest what to do. Damn scary, our Trainer."

"Really? What's his name?"

" _Her_ name is Jamila Kareem. From the United States, maybe five years older? Has a nasty scar down the side of her face." Scorpius raised an eyebrow, impressed.

"By the way, she wants everyone to be wearing athletic clothes and trainers when she comes back." Scorpius nodded his acknowledgement and went to change, because there were also some girls in the room. He found the bathroom pretty easily and he changed in one of the stalls. He just finished putting away his bag and clothes when a sudden silence fell over the room. A woman with brown skin, dark, flashing eyes, and long black hair plaited into a braid stood in the front of the room. She was short, even shorter than Rose. Her face, though otherwise beautiful, had a jagged scar running from one corner of her eye to the curve of her jawline. Her wand was poised in the air, as if she had just finished casting a charm. _A Silencing Charm, of course. How could I not even tell that I was being silenced?_ Jamila Kareem had a slight smile on her face and she lowered her wand.

"This," she spoke softly, "Is a better volume. I am Jamila Kareem, but you may call me Kareem. Of course, you could call me Jamila, if you wanted to be expelled from the program." Even though Scorpius could feel himself get a hold of the use of his tongue, he didn't dare speak. Neither did anyone else, much to Kareem's apparent chagrin.

"When I ask a question, I expect an answer! The _correct_ answer to my last question is 'Yes, ma'am!'" She looked expectantly at the twenty kids in front of her.

"Yes ma'am!" A loud, stuttering chorus rang through the room.

"Better. Now, Group Two, you may have noticed you're co-ed. Do yourself and me a favor and keep it in your pants for three weeks, thank you very much. Otherwise, I _will_ be forced to expel you." Kareem continued to go through her clipboard.

"I am an Espionage Auror, while Luiz here-" Kareem jutted her chin behind her, and standing there was a tall, imposing looking man. Scorpius was embarrassed to say that he didn't even notice Luiz at first,"- is a Battle Auror. We will be tracking your progress and, yes, eliminating you from the program and performing the memory charms. We are very skilled at this, so don't worry. We've only ever had one trainee lose the ability to speak." She chuckled here. No on else did. Well, except for maybe Luiz. His deep, rumbling breaths could easily have been chuckles, but Scorpius just couldn't tell.

"There are ten Battle Aurors and ten Espionage Aurors in here. Every day for the first week we will split up and complete our objectives. I'm sure your travel guides told you the main gist of what was going on? Good," She said, not waiting for an answer. "We will not be living in here with you, thank god because I'm sure most of you are used to living in pigsties of dorm rooms in your schools. However, we will know if there's any sort of fighting or malpractice. Be ready for breakfast with your bunks clean by seven thirty sharp. Let me see, what else . . . right, bathrooms are down the hall to the left, we're sharing with Group Two and Three. I will be giving you all stamps on your way out, and the ink will change every day for your schedule and locations. Any questions? No? Fantastic." Kareem flipped through a few more pages in her clipboard before stopping.

"Ah yes, the thing you've all been waiting for - how can you get kicked out? Well, obviously any sort of fighting, drugs or sex, you're out. Other than that, we have a points system, where you lose more points for serious infractions, less for lesser, and the same for gaining points for good things you do. No-no's include backtalk, improper spellcasting, poor grades on classroom exams, etc. Good things include winning a duel, answering a question correctly, scoring well on a test, etc, etc. It's sort of like the points systems, for those of you who go to Castelobruxo and Hogwarts. Whichever two of you have the least amount of points at the end of each cycle will be eliminated from the program. A cycle is every two days, which is essentially a day and a half of testing and half a day of exams. The board-" Luiz waved his wand and a whiteboard appeared with what appeared to be everyone's last name and flag of nationality next to it, "-Thank you Luiz, the board will show your rankings - number one has the most points, number two has the second most points, and so on and on. Understood?"

"Understood, ma'am!" Tumo stood in an almost military-esque pose, with his feet shoulder with apart and hands clasped behind his back. Scorpius straightened up self consciously and murmured his agreement. _What the hell is wrong with me? I'm so off my game today!_ Kareem grinned.

"You catch on fast, Trainee. What's your name?"

"Tumo Ghasia, ma'am."

"Well, ten points to Ghasia. You all could learn a thing or two from him." Scorpius saw the name "Ghasia" with the Tanzanian flag next to it rise to the top of the board, and the number '1' appear to its left. Everyone else's name had a '2' next to it.

"Anyways, now that you are all unpacked, form an orderly line in front of me to get your stamps, and start following Luiz to the Training Circle. We're lucky and will be getting it second today - every other day we get it twenty seventh, and it's almost completely destroyed. Our custodians hate training season, it takes them almost the whole to regrow the grass."

The group of twenty shuffled into a line, and Scorpius and Tumo managed a spot near the front. Once they had their arms stamped with a schedule and were out the door, Scorpius turned to Tumo.

"Kiss ass."

"Hey, I'm just trying to get ahead."

"At least warn me so we both can get points next time!" Tumo laughed with Scorpius.

"Of course, my friend, next time." While they walked down the avenue towards the Circle, they saw several other groups passing by. One of them looked like they just came back from some physical training, so probably Group One. Despite the chillier weather, they were pouring sweat and quite a few of them had cuts, bruises, and/or burns. Scorpius tuned into what their Trainer was saying.

"Okay Battle/Espionage Aurors, we're going to be heading to the infirmary, where the Healer trainees will heal you. Don't like their inexperience? Don't get caught by a Stinging Jinx next time." Scorpius could feel the blood draining from his face. This was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.

* * *

They reached the Circle at ten thirty, and didn't leave until the middle of the afternoon. Scorpius was gasping for air while trying to finish out the last mile of the run. They had gone into dueling. Scorpius won the first six matches, but he stalemated his seventh (with Tumo) and eighth and lost his ninth. They then went straight into flying, where they threw no bludgers at the Trainees, but flaming bits of lava and shards of ice. Scorpius hoped that Healers had slightly easier broom "training", for Rose's sake. He himself had a burn on his upper right thigh and a cut on his cheek, which was far better than some others faired. He had gained points by answering some questions correctly, and Kareem had even called his summoning charm exemplary, but he had also lost points for "unbecoming sarcasm and cheek". Overall, on the board (which Luiz had summoned to the Circle), Scorpius ranked sixth. Tumo still maintained his spot as first. Speaking of whom, Scorpius was struggling to keep up with him on their run. In all fairness, Tumo's Animagus was literally a cheetah, so Scorpius was doing more than a good job in keeping up with Tumo, but while the latter seemed to not even be breaking a sweat, Scorpius was about to pass out. Tumo crossed the finish line several yards ahead of Scorpius and jogged to a stop before collapsing on the ground. Scorpius simply wasn't _used_ to feeling sub par. At school, he was one of the smartest in his classes and was arguably the best Seeker since Teddy Lupin, or possibly even Harry Potter. But everyone here was the cream of the crop at their schools. All of them excelled, and they all were incredibly competitive. Scorpius had already seen a girl send a weakening jinx at her "friend" while she was flying.

The rest of the group, in an equally exhausted state as Scorpius, practically crawled across the finish line, where Luiz was holding out water bottles to the trainees like some strange version of a Quidditch mom. Scorpius moaned, turned over onto his face, and forced himself to stand up. He hobbled over to Tumo, who was talking with full faculties and breath to Kareem. He was making her genuine laugh, something that Scorpius had doubted she could even do, and if she could, wouldn't be caught dead engaging in the activity.

"You sick son of a bitch, I'm dying here and you aren't even out of breath," Scorpius spoke hoarsely into Tumo's ear, clapping a hand on his friend's back. Tumo just gave his round, full bellied laugh.

"It was quite amusing, I won't lie, but I ran eight miles to Muggle school everyday before I turned eight and went to Uagadou, so forgive me if I wasn't particularly challenged." Kareem's eyebrow rose so high it was practically above her forehead.

"Oh really, Ghasia? I will wear you down with so many runs you will be begging for the sweet release of death."

"Uh-huh, good luck with that Sarge." Tumo grinned.

"It's Colonel to you, jackass. Can't you see the insignia?" All of a sudden, Luiz appeared tapping his watch.

"Time to go," he rumbled. Like a switch flipped, Kareem turned back into Her Royal Assholery' Ice Queen.

"Everyone, get up off your asses, we're going to Classroom! Battle Aurors with Luiz, Espionage follow me! " A chorus of groans swept through their section of the field. The Circle itself was now occupied by twelve others groups, all in varying stays of physical exhaustion. It was a sort of sadistic humor that Scorpius was mildly ashamed of that made him laugh. However, a sharp glare from Luiz made him cut off his giggles. They made their way down one of the side alleyways from one of the avenues. The two groups filed into two identical, small buildings, which was essentially one amphitheater style classroom. Scorpius took a seat near the front with a couple of friends he had made in the bunks. Kareem walked to the front of the room and tapped the blank wall with her wand. Elegant, scrolling letters appeared, saying the words "Practical and Theoretical Invisibility Charms." Scorpius was not the only one who groaned and put his head in his hands. This was going to be a very long week.

* * *

By the end of the week, only twelve kids were left. Six were gone because of the cycle, and the other two were caught fighting. At first, Scorpius didn't get how people could fight. However, by the end of the week, he was doing everything he could to restrain himself from punching half the kids in his group. Putting a bunch of high key type A, competitive people in a room, and there's bound to be a fistfight.

Scorpius found that he had snagged the number four spot steadily, and he and another girl were constantly competing for number three. Tumo remained first, dropping only once briefly, because of a first aid training mishap.

Scorpius had only seen Rose three times total in the week. Two of those times had been in the Mess Hall, and they had locked eyes across the room. However, both Rose and Scorpius were forced to look away as soon as they found each other, due to their Groups pushing away.

The third time had been a few days ago, when Scorpius went to the Hospital to get his arm bandaged. The Hospital was the second largest building on campus, and it was large and regal with massive windows that let light stream in and stone walls. Scorpius was on the third floor, where the Healing trainees worked. It was a long room, very similar to the layout of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, but with more people and more beds. Scorpius had avoided going to the Hospital for as long as possible, using his own shoddy treatments that he trusted more than a trainee's. However, word spread fast the Group 27 was the best of all the Healer trainee groups. Scorpius had to be told that Group 27 was on duty, and that for Merlin's sake, if he didn't go, Kareem would force him to accept treatment from Tumo or be cut. Needless to say, Scorpius didn't want to be sent home nor grow a third hand.

He walked into the atrium of the Hospital, and many people were bustling around. This was where all the overflow from St. Mungo's went, so the first two floors and the entire south wing was off limits to trainees. The trainee hospital was on the third floor of the north wing, up a back hallway spiral staircase. But, however, isolated the floor might seem, it was absolutely teeming with activity when Scorpius went up. Almost every bed was full in the quidditch pitch sized wing, and the trainees were dashing about to all of the patients. Most of the people there were other people in the Auror Prep program, but Scorpius also spotted a few brave Aurors who probably got the short end of the stick and had to come to the Trainee Hospital instead of the normal hospital for their minor injuries. The mediwitches and wizards wore blindingly white scrubs, and most of them had their wands behind their ear or holding up their bun. Almost all of them had dark circles under their eyes and were taking large gulps of coffee from an espresso machine in the corner between stitching up magical maladies. Scorpius was suddenly struck with a horrible sense of de ja vu, where the overworked Aurors crowded around Cassie. He shook his head. _This isn't the same thing. Cassie's safe, she's at home, she's fine._ Scorpius didn't even realize that their was someone standing in front of him until said person snapped their fingers in front of his face. An eighteen year old with a rusty red stain on his wrist cuff stood there, expectantly peering from behind his glasses.

"You need help or not?" He asked in a jarring American accent. Scorpius cleared his throat and presented his hand, which had hastily been wrapped in some bandages. The mediwizard trainee grabbed it roughly and examined it before pushing Scorpius into a nearby, vacant bed.

"Stay here, I'll be back to treat you." The boy raced off to a cabinet across the hall, and Scorpius observed everyone around him. He could see why Group 27 was considered the best. Just from looking at them, they seemed like professionals. And no on was growing an extra appendage - no one, at least, that Scorpius could see. The boy came back with bandages and what looked like a jar of a thick salve. He began to unwrap the mess of Scorpius bandages when he found himself getting pushed out of the way.

"Move it Fletcher, or I'll tell Rita that I had to do your vaccination shots for you." Fletcher turned and ran in the opposite direction. Scorpius raised an amused eyebrow.

"Now Rose, if you wanted to treat me you could have just asked - no need to threaten poor Fletchy there." Rose grinned and took to unwrapping the rest of Scorpius' hand.

"It's _Fletcher_ , smartass, and you wouldn't want him treating you, he's the weak link." Scorpius smiled.

"Well I'm glad I got the most competent, and not to mention the prettiest medic in the room."

"Oi, I'm not the prettiest and I'm sure as hell not the best in this room. I'm just coming to save you, Fletcher's jumpy because he's on the chopping block. Take a look," Rose jerked her head towards a whiteboard similar to Scorpius' group. Rose's name was in fourth, and Fletcher Adamson was in second to last place. Scorpius grinned.

"Hey, I'm fourth today too!" Rose matched his grin as she spread the salve on the clean bandages. She took her time to wrap Scorpius bandages. She rattled on about everything going on, and how they were worked even more than Scorpius and his group because they had to learn all the basic training Aurors had _and_ they had to learn everything there was to know about modern medicine at the same time. Rose didn't look at Scorpius when she spoke, but Scorpius couldn't help but stare at her with a goofy smile, only interjecting on a rare occasion. _She's so beautiful,_ he thought. She pulled her wand out of her bun and tapped his hand a few times, muttering a charm under her breath. Scorpius felt the throbbing in his hand disappear as the skin knit itself back together. Rose slowly unwrapped his hand.

"You know, I'm surprised that I haven't seen you here earlier. Considering how often you maim yourself during something as easy as Quidditch, I expected you to be dropping in all the time."

"Oh yeah!" Scorpius said, smacking his head with his uninjured hand. "How'd the flying test go?"

"I passed, " Rose grumbled, "It was a pretty tame course, nothing what I've heard battle and espionage trainees go through, but the reason I'm fourth and not third is because of the flying requirements."

"Well hey, it's better than _last_ right?" Scorpius asked, nudging her with his knee.

"I guess. But _anyways_ , you haven't distracted me from my original question. Why haven't I seen more of you around here?"

"Erm yeah, about that . . . "

"Scorpius . . ." Rose said, slowing down her unwrapping with a hint of warning in her voice.

"Merlin woman, let me finish!" Scorpius smiled to make sure Rose knew he was joking. "I, well, I've kinda been treating my own injuries, because, well, you know . . ."

"What don't I know, Malfoy?" Scorpius mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

"What was that?" Rose asked expectantly.

"I don't trust the medical trainees."

"Don't tell me you've been-"

"-treating myself, why yes I have. Is there a problem." Rose stared slack jawed at Scorpius.

"Um, _yes_ there's a problem! You can't properly treat this shit yourself with what you've just learned in first aid training! Where have you patched yourself?" Her eyes flashed and Scorpius knew she wasn't fucking around. he mumbled incoherently before taking her hand. He guided hers to his right shoulder, then to his left knee, and then to the left side of his rib cage, near his heart. Rose took a deep breath and look up, as if praying for the patience to deal with Scorpius' stupidity.

"Merlin's balls. Take off your shirt - don't give me that look, take off your fucking shirt, or so help me, you will not live to see tomorrow." Scorpius sighed and took off his T-shirt, leaving his injuries bare for Rose to see. The nasty cut in his shoulder was closed, but the skin around the scar had turned a putrid shade of yellow. Black, blue, red, and purple bruises patterned his left side. Rose hiked up Scorpius sweatpants, and found his knee swollen and purple.

"Next time, come straight here. I don't care who's on duty, anyone is better than you at treating injuries."

"I'm going to have to beg to differ. One of my friends from my group is probably the worst medic in the program. I'm not about to go to him for help." Rose snorted as she collected some vials from underneath the bed.

"I'm surprised he got this far then."

"He's literally the best in every other area. he's already a goddamn animagus."

"Wait, this is Tumo?" Rose asked before uncorking a vial with her teeth. Scorpius nodded as she snapped on some dragon-hide gloves. Rose poured the silvery, translucent liquid all over his shoulder, and began to rub it in slowly, murmuring charms softly.

"Holy hippogriffs," Scorpius suppressed a groan, "I've missed you Rose." He began to nuzzle her hand, but Rose withdrew.

"I'm not going to get kicked out because my horny boyfriend can't keep it to himself for three weeks," she said, pulling the stopper on another bottle, this one containing a bright red liquid.

"But Roooooooooosssseeee," Scorpius whined, but was cut off by another one of Rose's looks. Scorpius huffed but acquiesced, knowing full well that the program had a strictly enforced no-fraternization policy. Scorpius had heard of two kids from Group 14 getting kicked out because they had been found making out behind the Circle locker rooms.

"Sorry, I'll do my best," he grumbled. Rose smiled slightly and treated the rest of his wounds. By the end, Scorpius felt as if he had been touched by God himself, he felt so great. Scorpius was pretty sure that Rose fixed old injuries that he had had for a couple months. Scorpius put his shirt back on, while Rose rolled down his pant leg. They stared at each other, not sure of what to do next, and neither willing to leave. It wasn't until Rose's supervisor, Rita, called Rose over did they break their connection. Rose darted foreword quickly and aimed to place a small kiss on Scorpius cheek. Scorpius turned his head at the last moment and got a quick kiss on the lips. The contact made electricity go down his spine and _holy hell_ did he miss being able to touch her, even casually. Rose squeezed his hand lightly.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear, and, before he even got the chance to reciprocate, she had dashed off to find out what Rita needed. Scorpius sighed and signed out of the little patient checkbook they had at the double doors before heading out to his afternoon lecture on "Intelligence Gathering in the 21st Century Wizarding World."

 **A/N: So yeah. I have no promise as to when I can get the second one out, but hopefully sometime by the beginning of next month! As always, love you guys so much!**

 **~RestIsRustandStardust**

 **Posted: 6/10/17**


	22. In Which It Goes Down

**A/N: Erm. Hello. Fanfiction's resident douche canoe here with another chapter (finally). This one is the longest I've ever written, a whopping 10k words, which'll put me over the 100k word benchmark, so whoopdeedoo! I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't really proofread this because I just wanted to chug something out and be done with it. So a lot happens in this chapter! Trigger warning for some schmexy stuff and shootings. While I had this planned for the story all along, it is, I will say, disgustingly fitting with the current climate in the US. I honestly will be perfectly honest about my feelings on gun violence, especially in schools in the US, and I think that shows in this chapter. It is a heavy topic and I tried to do it justice, but please call me out if you deem it insensitive. Anyways, this is the last chapter before the epilogue, which I have no idea when I will be able to post, but whatever, one step at a time! _Anyways_ again, cheers to introducing "Chapter 22: In Which It Goes Down"!**

 **What Happened Last Time:**

 _"I love you," she whispered in his ear, and, before he even got the chance to reciprocate, she had dashed off to find out what Rita needed. Scorpius sighed and signed out of the little patient checkbook they had at the double doors before heading out to his afternoon lecture on "Intelligence Gathering in the 21st Century Wizarding World."_

 **Rose POV**

The halls of Hogwarts swelled with students for the first time since the Yule Ball. It was the second to last day before classes started again, and friends kept dropping trunks, screaming, and running to tell their friends everything as they saw them for the first time. And, of course, the first inter-school match was happening tomorrow, so parents, reporters, and multitudes of foreign students were visiting and crowding up the hallways. Rose and Scorpius had come back the day before, when most of the students still hadn't come back. Rose remained tucked in an alcove between the loggia and courtyard, miserably looking at everyone passing by while hoping to catch sight of Marcie. There was so much shit she wanted to tell her best friend, but she also dreaded the actual conversation. Rose sighed as another bunch of second years knocked into her shoulder as they passed and observed continued observing the rather garish scar that adorned her right hand. She physically sat on her right hand in order to resist the urge to pick at the stitches.

"Why the hell are you out here in the cold, Rosie?" Rose felt a pair of arms snake their way around her neck. Rose flinched and had her hand already on her wand when turned to see that Hugo was standing next to her.

"Whoa, down girl. It's me." Hugo put his hands up defensively. He was all bundled up (no doubt the doing of their mother) and his breath was puffing in the cold.

"Oh. Just you."

"Hey, just me? Your only and most cherished dear-brother who you won't even hug after spending three weeks apart?" Rose rolled her eyes and hugged him, holding on for probably longer than necessary.

"You okay, Rose?" Hugo asked, patting her back awkwardly after about thirty seconds. Rose just buried her face in her brother's coat and nodded, letting a couple tears splotch into the fabric. Hugo was kind enough to not mention anything, and he stayed there with Rose for who knows how long.

"Tell me what's been going on with you." Rose murmured. Hugo complied. He told her all about how the Hogwarts team for the inter-school league has been practicing for months, and that they had all spent the week together at Freja's house training for the upcoming match with Beauxbatons. He told her about how the Great Oliver Wood (whose training guide Hugo read like a bible) came for a bit and worked one on one with Hugo because he wanted Hogwarts to win so badly. After a while, Hugo moved his hand to Rose's shoulder and tapped it gently.

"Hey, it's Marcie." Rose removed her head from Hugo's chest to see a tall, blonde mess running down the hall toward her.

"ROSE!" Marcie barreled into her best friend, hugging her tightly before pulling back.

"It's been so long and you have to tell me _everything_ about your time with McDreamy Handsome. Are you becoming an Auror? Did you all pass?" Simultaneously, Rose's eyes filled with tears again and Hugo indignantly asked "What the bloody hell?"

Rose just shook her head, finding it difficult to speak around the lump in her throat.

"Oh, dear," Maternal Marcie made in appearance and wrapped her arm around Rose's shoulder.

"Should we go somewhere more private?" Marcie inquired softly, shooting a look at Hugo, who looked perfectly ready to stay and get the story, that said "fuck off". Rose just shook her head and lifted her dry (but still red-rimmed) eyes.

"No, no its okay, I can talk about it here. And Hugo can stay if he wants, he has just as much a right to hear. But yeah, I did pass, I'm an Auror." Rose smiled humorlessly, and it seemed inappropriate for Marcie and Hugo to smile, so they didn't. Instead, they sat on either side of Rose as she quickly summarized what happened between her and Scorpius during the Yule Ball and the first week.

"Hugo, if you're going to keep making those faces every time I mention that I kissed Scorpius, you probably aren't gonna want to stick around."

"Blech, I'm fine, whatever. This is just a lot of information about my sister that I'm not sure I need to know." Hugo pretended to gag. Rose laughed, a real and genuine, albeit weak, laugh.

"Believe me, Hugie, I wouldn't be including it if it wasn't necessary. Anyways, I'll skip to the beginning of the third week, which is when problems really began."

* * *

 _A week prior_

The day they were assigned their groups was the sixth day of the second week. Rose thought that the work would get easier in the second week, but she was very, very wrong. The anatomy class alone was by far the hardest, most boring class she had ever taken. If she ever made it back to Hogwarts in one piece, she vowed to apologize to Binns for every time she fell asleep in his class. The rest of her classes were almost as hard, and for the first time in her life, Rose was truly worried about passing. She was consistently pulling third, but since there were only five people left in her group, she wasn't exactly comfortable with her standing. Finishing her (what felt like hundredth) anatomy exam, Rose stretched and checked her answers. _Fuck it_ , she thought, and just turned in her parchment. Nadia, Group 27's instructor, raised his eyebrow. No one else had finished the test, and so he sat back in his chair and graded Rose's test in front of her. Rose assumed the "at ease" stance. She could feel her eyes rolling to the back of her head due to exhaustion, but she managed to look halfway decent as Nadia took his damn time grading. Without a word, he slapped down her test on his desk and nodded. Rose took the test and her heart leapt - a 93. It was far better than anything she was expecting and she practically fell to the floor in relief and exhaustion. Rose walked back to her desk and collapsed into her chair. She looked around the room, twiddling her thumbs, but nothing was of note. The old Christmas decorations were still up, maintaining their lustrous and jolly vibe, since New Year's was still a week away. Rose stopped fighting to keep her eyes open and took a power nap until the silence of the room was broken by a sharp screech of Nadia's chair legs pushing across the floor. Everyone jumped to attention, and, with a very theatrical wave of his wand, Nadia erased a name on the board just when Rose realized they were one student short. The ex-student must have left when Rose was sleeping. Her stomach twisted - that was the girl who was in two spot. She must have cheated or something like that on the test, it had to have been bad to been cut unexpectedly. And even though Rose was acquaintances with the girl (hell, Rose would even say that they were friends), the Weasley girl couldn't help but feel slightly jubilant: She was now in the number two spot.

"All right, as you all can see, I made an unexpected cut this afternoon. That means you all will be receiving your groups earlier rather than later today. As I'm sure you all know by this point, these groups are usually supposed to be assigned at the beginning of this week, but due to a shortage on staff, we had to postpone the group training until now. You may all follow me." With a snap of his heels, Nadia strode out of the room, with his young recruits hurrying after him. They broke into hushed whispers.

"I wonder how they match us up?"

"I heard they have a device, sort of like the Goblet of Fire or the Sorting Hat."

"Don't be ridiculous Leon, they wouldn't exert so much magical energy on something as simple as organizing groups."

"I don't know Jezebel, they've done some pretty weird shit." Rose just smiled quietly but didn't participate in any of the dialogue. Birungi had told the group how they were split, as had all Portkey guides, but she and the rest of her group found the gossip amusing. because, hey, you never knew. While she was friends with all the people in her group, she didn't want to get close with any of them. She hadn't known when (she _still_ didn't know when) the next person would be cut, or who it would be.

After descending down a rickety back staircase, Nadia halted suddenly in front of a pair of nondescript wooden doors. The cartoonish skids of all the recruits would have been funny if they weren't so terrified of their instructor. Nadia pushed the doors open, revealing a large, cavernous room with roughly hewn pillars and wooden flooring. There were maybe fifteen or so tables, and each had at least one person loitering around it. Nadia pointed at the lefthand tables.

"You will all be split up in Squads 1-4. For this third week, your group will be split into three pairs of two, because most of the time, the entire squad won't go on a mission together, only a few of you. You will be given real missions, and your entire group will plan all three expeditions. Mathilde, because you have the most points, you'll go to Squad 1, Rose, Squad 2, and so on and on. There you will meet with the other people in your squad. There will be five to six people per group, and you all are split up based on rankings. So," Nadia said with a nasty smirk in Jezebel's direction, "you all better hope you were high on the list, because your group reflects your position." Jezebel was blinking hard and fast, and Rose moved behind her to show her support. Jezebel was in last, but it was only because her partner for a mock surgery fucked up and put both of them really behind. With a sharp nod, Nadia dismissed them to their tables. For a brief moment, the four trainees looked at each other, not exactly sure how to say goodbye. None of them were particularly close, but they were still the only people they really interacted for the past two weeks. They put blood, sweat, tears, and hours of studying into this program together. After a brief silence, Rose nodded and spoke quietly, her voice cracking.

"Good job, guys, and good luck." Leon, Mathilde, and Jezebel all murmured 'good luck' and the four started to the tables. Rose's heart thumped in her chest as she approached the wooden table that had a huge sign with the number 2 painted onto it. The people who would be standing at this table would be the people she would either fail with, or would work with for the next however many years. There was already a tall, gangly boy standing there, his back to her and in the "at ease" position. His black hair was cut close to his scalp, and the tendons stood out in his neck. Rose gulped, slightly intimidated, before clearing her throat and sticking out her hand.

"I'm Rose Weasley, Healer trainee." The boy turned around, his facing breaking out into a big smile.

"Clemente Ronaldo, Linguistics," he said as he shook Rose's hand. His voice was pleasant, and he had a faint accent in his lilting speech.

"Beauxbatons?" Rose asked, the two of them assuming the at ease position. Clemente shook his head, still smiling.

"No, Castelbruxo, raised in Paraguay though. I assume Hogwarts?"

"You assume correctly. So . . . linguistics?"

"Yes. I speak 300 languages and dialects fluently, and am semi-fluent in about 100 others." Rose's eyes widened in amazement.

"Holy shit! I can only speak English an a bit of garden gnome! And I'm pretty sure that's all just swears too." Clemente laughed, his head thrown back.

"Hogwarts doesn't put nearly enough emphasis on language! Although, admittedly, about 40 of the languages I know are some regional dialect of troll."

"I thought troll was just a bunch of grunting? I would hardly call that 'regional'."

"Oh, on the contrary. A grunt in a French accent may simply mean 'I like your cave', but the same grunt in a Farsi accent might mean 'I stole your rocks', which, as you can imagine, might cause some problems." Rose chuckled.

"So do you know anyone here?" Clemente asked, gesturing around the room.

"Hmm, well, I was one of two people accepted from Hogwarts, but I don't know where the other one is," Rose said, craning her neck in vain.

Over the next half hour or so, the rest of the groups trickled in. Sqaud 4's Battle Auror, Marie Landré, Potion Master, Bhaozai Li, and Team Leader, Sundari Jindal, arrived and easy conversation flowed between the five of them.

"Who are we waiting on again?" Bhaozai asked.

"Our Espionage Auror," Sundari said, "But I have no idea what is taking them so long." As soon as the words left her mouth, a group came through the door. The way they came swaggering through, you'd have thought they owned the place. Rose's eyes were immediately drawn to the tall, pale boy at the front. Even though it had only been two weeks since she _really_ saw him, it seemed that his time in training had done him good. His muscles stood out prominently against his training tee. His hair was cut short, the sides of it cropped into an almost buzz cut. Part of Rose mourned the loss, for she couldn't exactly run her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck anymore, but she had to admit, he looked hot. He was laughing at something the tall boy, who Rose recognized vaguely from when they were dropped off, said next to him. The two made eye contact across the hall, and Scorpius smile widened even more. Rose winked, and Scorpius flashed her a thumbs up before turning his attention back to the terrifying looking Trainer. After a couple moments of talking, in which Scor's training probably just gave the same spiel as Nadia did, Scorpius turned to Tumo and hugged him. There was an awkward moment where the Leader stuck out her hand and Scorpius went in for a hug, and Scorpius just ended up crushing her in an embrace. Rose, as someone who loved being in Scor's arms, couldn't understand why the Leader looked so murderous. After breaking apart, Scorpius turned towards Rose's table and made his way over quickly.

"No. I don't believe it. Oh my- Scorpius!" Rose laughed as Scorpius ran up and hugged her, and after an all-too-brief snog, Rose decided that she didn't mind the lack of hair on the back of his neck, as long as she got to kiss him again soon.

"I missed you," He murmured into her hair.

"Missed you too."

Breaking apart, the two faced the questioning looks from their group.

"Um, hi. I'm Scorpius Malfoy, the Espionage Auror," He stuck out his right hand, but the other arm stayed firmly wrapped around Rose's side. The group went around and introduced themselves, and Clemente leaned in to talk to Rose.

"I'm guessing this is the other Hogwarts student?" Rose nodded.

"Well let's hope none of the Trainers saw that rather public display of affection," Clemente said wryly. Rose whipped her head around, and she made eye contact with Scor's Trainer, who just smirked and winked before disappearing out the door. Rose sighed gratefully, and reluctantly disentangled herself from Scorpius' side. Scorpius let go of Rose's waist, though he still hovered near her.

"I see you made a friend?" Rose jerked her head towards Squad 1.

"Hmm? Oh that's Tumo, the one who came with us. He's an actual superhuman."

"Eh, well you're number two, that's not so bad."

"Well, you know what they say, if you're not first, you're last."

"You had a very sad childhood."

"Maybe I just spent too much time around my grandfather."

"Yup, that probably did it." Rose smiled and bumped her hip into Scorpius'. They turned back to the group, and, after a few minutes of slightly awkward small talk, a loud squeal of audio feedback rang through the din, effectively silencing everyone. The man who sorted all the Trainees on their first day was standing on a table that had been pushed in front of the doors.

"HELLO-erm, hello recruits - As you may know, I am the chief coordinator for all training efforts, Odin Njall. Congratulations! You are the best and the brightest of the better and the brighter. As you have gotten acquainted with your squads already, I will just dive right into everything." With a wave of his wand, scrolls whizzed from the arms of Birungi and a thin, reedy looking woman, who were standing by the door. Sundari seized the scroll that hurtled towards the group, and after wrestling it still, she unrolled the thick parchment.

"As you can see there is one large 'objective' given to each squad, which may be divided into several different submissions that must be completed - it is up to the squad's leader to divvy up these tasks among the six of you. Throughout this next week, your squad must plan and execute your mission; you may spend however long you wish on the planning phase, but you _must_ do both by the end of the week. Each squad shall be moved into real Auror Squad barracks to plan - or train, if you wish - and you shall be provided with a total budget and a list of provided supplies for the mission. A reminder that if even one of your subtasks is not completed, your whole Squad will fail, and the proper memory charms will be executed. And another quick reminder, these are _real_ mission that we are sending you on. It will be a minor, small mission, but a real one nonetheless. We trust you all to be semi-competent, but you will have a real Auror - one of my lovely assistants here -" Odin gestured to the five people along the back wall behind him, "-as your handler. Who knows, they might act as an adversary to keep you all on your feet. The International Auror Program would love to take all of you, should none fail, but we are prepared for the worst to happen and for _all_ of you to fail as well. Are there any questions?" Odin paused briefly before forging ahead, giving no time for anyone to actually answer, "Wonderful. Now my assistants here shall lead each squad to their barracks. Birungi, take Squad 1. Olga, take Squad 2 . . ."

As the thin woman made her way over their table, Squad 2 descended upon Sundari.

"What's our objective?"

"Who are our partners?"

"Where will are mission be?"

"When can we get started?"

"How are we even going to do this?" All of a sudden, the five were pushed back from the stressed-looking Sundari by what Rose could only assume was a shield charm. They turned around and saw Odin's assistant sheathing her wand.

"Lovely." Olga's voice was very quiet, but Rose felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck and she immediately stood at attention. Olga was, like most of the Trainers and assistants she had seen, was no more than five years older than the Trainees, but she commanded respect and, for lack of better word, _fear_. Her eyes were an icy, almost white blue and her hair was a deep black that was pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She had severe cheekbones and her skin was free of blemishes except for two large slashes over her right eye.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Olga continued in her whispered tone, "Now let's begin, shall we? My name is Olga, I am a trained and certified Potions Master for the Eagle Squad. I shall be taking you all to the Eagles Barracks, where I reside with my Squad, and where you all shall be staying for the next week. Do be clean and efficient."

Squad 2 chatted nervously and quietly among themselves as the walked with Olga to the Eagle Barracks. Rose learned that all of her teammates were quite competent, and that all of them were ranked second in their teams. Clemente entertained them all with a story regarding two trolls and a banshee as they walked; Rose would have sworn that even Olga had cracked a small smile.

They reached a small wooden building by the edge of the Circle. A large, golden eagle statue was perched over the doorway, glaring at all the recruits as they walked by in a single file line. Olga directed them into the large central room that had several large couches crowded around a big conference table. Once they were all seated, Olga began a more in-depth explanation of the tasks that lay ahead of them. Every now and then another person around Olga's age would slip out of the only door on the east wall, but they would just wave silently and leave them be.

"The Eagles 2020 were the most recent Squad 2 to successfully complete their whole mission. That was four years ago. If you all succeed, you will become known as the Eagles 2024, and you shall move into these barracks and 2020 shall move out, and you all will train the next rounds of Aurors until another squad succeeds, so on and on. Make sense? Good." Olga motioned Sundari for the file and spread the contents of it over the table.

"As you may be able to see, Squad 2's mission is to infiltrate a New Year's Ball held by Ajras Marren at his London townhouse. He is a Squib and operates on the seedy line between the Muggle and Wizarding World. This is technically a Muggle event, but there will probably be some magical instances. We believe that Marren is one of the suppliers of the enchanted guns used at the Ilvermorny Massacre that took place earlier this year." Rose's eyes darted up to look at Scorpius, but he remained calm, his twisted, white-knuckled hands clasped in front of him being the only indication of this connection.

"We have intel that indicates that he will be meeting simultaneously with a Muggle arms dealer and a Wizarding charm specialist at this ball. Our two main objectives are to collect any and all papers that show how these guns work and how exactly he is enchanting them. Marren is a pretty low level guy, so there probably won't be much, but while these shootings may seem like lone-wolf attacks, we can never know for certain. The other is to know who is in his central circle, who will undoubtedly be all at the ball. As the ball, obviously, happens on New Year's Eve, you have a maximum of four days to plan this mission. Marren has no idea that we are onto him, so do not expect any particularly strong fortifications or precautions taken on his part. However, still be careful. The program will give this team a stipend of 200 galleons and 2000 Muggle British pounds for this mission. I will be here to answer any questions you all may have along the way, but I will _not_ help you plan this. I shall now defer to Miss Jindal to begin delegating."

Three and a half days later, Squad 2 was packed, planned, and ready to leave for London.

The plan was to arrive a day early to set up in a hotel across the street from the large townhouse (it truly was more of a mansion). They would set up their surveillance equipment and gather their necessary Muggle clothing. They would then got to the event the following night and begin their missions. Marie and Sundari would stay outside of the venue in the hotel room so they could monitor progress and provide aid as necessary. Bhaozai and Clemente would mingle and attempt to figure out who the inner circle contained. Scorpius and Rose would mingle but would slip away at the first chance to find a weapons cache and any papers. Olga would stay with Marie and Sundari, just in case an extraction was necessary.

They walked to the edge of the Auror campus and Apparated at a special nook in the woods.

"It's the only place in miles that doesn't have wards protecting against Apparation. And even now, you all will need to drink this potion that will allow you to do so." They all passed around a tiny black bottle, taking a small swig before Apparating off one by one for the Leaky Cauldron (Luckily, Scorpius didn't splinch this time - he really was getting much better at it). They changed into their Muggle clothes there before hailing a Muggle taxi for Harrod's. There, the four who would be infiltrating the ball found some Muggle evening wear. Scorpius found Rose muttering to herself at one of the registers, handing over the team Muggle credit card that had all the necessary Muggle cash. Scorpius, aware that Olga was helping Marie find a dress on the floor below, took the opportunity to snake his arms around Rose's waist and bury his face in her neck. Rose sighed and leaned back into his embrace as the cashier ran the plastic card through a fancy looking device. Rose knew how the Muggle world work, thanks to her mother, but she still found some practices rather odd.

"You good?" Scorpius murmured into her hair. Rose nodded, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, just realizing how were probably gonna blow our entire Muggle money budget on these stupid clothes. You?" In truth, even though they were partnering for this mission, the two had had precious little time together over the past few days because of how much planning they did as a group and how hawk-eyed Olga was.

"I'm good, I'm good. Wish I saw that dress before you got it, though."

"Hmmm, I think it'll be a happy surprise for you. I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing you in a tux again." Scorpius had brought along the tux he wore to the Yule Ball, and thus had the pleasure of not having to shop, thank Merlin. He had spent his time helping Clemente at the tailor. While Clemente was perfectly nice, he wasn't the best at Muggle interaction. Hell, Scorpius wasn't either - they probably looked like a pair of bumbling buffoons.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to being able to spend some more along time with you." Rose rolled her eyes and untangled herself from Scorpius' arms, grabbing the paper bag that contained her dress. Just in time too, because Olga and Marie were coming up the escalator, arms laden with bags.

"C'mon guys, everyone is downstairs and ready!" Marie said excitedly. She was a sweet thing, you wouldn't expect her to be such a fierce Battle Auror unless you saw her in training. Scorpius and Rose took their leave and met the team on the bottom floor in the lobby. They took a single taxi to the hotel, probably realizing that they had to be a little more stingy from here on out.

"I love you." Rose squeezed his hand tightly before stepping out to their hotel. It was grand - a beautiful place really, that had drained another quarter of their budget for one executive suite for two nights. But their hotel had nothing on the ostentatious carnival of a townhouse across the street. It really was more of a mansion than a townhouse. They could see workers setting up decorations all over the house - Rose could only imagine what it would look like on the inside. The group of seven checked in and took the elevator up to their suite. Rose couldn't help but gasp at this luxury too. There was a big central room with a couple couches, a TV, and dining table. The hotel clerk who came with them explained that the two doors on each side led to bedrooms, each of the four with its own ensuite. She also showed them the balcony, which had a small spiral staircase leading up to the roof. The roof would provide a perfect lookout for Sundari, Marie, and Olga. The crew split into their pairs for each room, with Olga taking her own. Rose's heart fluttered at the thought of being able to spend time with Scorpius behind a closed, locked door, a privilege they hadn't had in almost three weeks.

However, any hope that they had of spending time together alone that night was dashed when Sundari insisted they all go over the plan for the umpteenth time and begin surveillance rotations on Marren's house.

Before they knew it, the infiltration teams were getting ready to leave for the ball. They decided to arrive fashionably on time at about eight o'clock. They did not want to draw more attention to themselves than they had to, as they wished to blend in with the crowd.

Rose was in the ensuite, slicking on one last coat of lipstick and putting in her earrings. She smiled at her reflection, knowing that Scorpius would like it. She drank some water mixed with the one drop of aging potion that Bhaozai had supplied them all with - it wasn't exactly like a bunch of teenagers would go unnoticed. Rose watched as her hips and breasts grew just a td bit more, her hair darkening though with a single gray strand behind her ear. Some faint lines grew around her mouth and by her eyes, but she still looked quite young. Rose would look around twenty five for max four hours before she reverted back to her original age. It was surreal to see herself like this, and she noted, to her chagrin, that she would not be growing another single centimeter as she aged. She stepped out nervously, still not entirely used to wearing such tight clothes or her new body, but she knew that it would be worth it when she saw Scorpius' expression. Scorpius was standing at the window facing Marren's mansion, adjusting his cufflinks. Even though she had seen him in it before, Rose had a new appreciation, for she could see that he had already taken his potion. His hair had grown out and he now wore it in a neat little bun at the nape of his neck. Rose could spot a stronger jawline under an impressive beard. His hair had darkened a few shades from its original platinum blonde to a darker, dirtier blonde. Rose noted that he grew at least a few centimeters (evidenced by his clothes that were charmed to be a bit bigger), his shoulders broadened and his body filled out with more muscle. Rose cursed herself when she caught herself staring, and, to make the first move, cleared her throat. Scorpius turned around and -

She was right.

His reaction was worth it.

She wore a long, emerald green, off-the shoulder gown. It was tight until her knees, where a small train trailed for about a foot. She wore a large emerald (obviously costume) pendant around her neck, hung by a silver chain. Her matching earrings were quite visible as her hair was swept up into a classy chignon. She had specifically chosen the green over her personal favorite of red, and she knew by Scorpius' jaw on the floor that she had made the right decision. Scorpius cleared his throat and collected himself.

"Gonna be able to fight in that thing, if necessary?" Rose rolled her eyes and pressed the pendant into her chest. Her dress shimmered and turned into auror battle armor. She pressed it again and the clothing reverted back.

"Found it in the armory a few days ago. Pretty damn useful."

"I'll say." Scorpius snorted and took the few strides he needed to to meet Rose from across the room. He settled his hands on her hips, before sliding them around her to give a hug that she quickly reciprocated.

"We'll be fine," Rose whispered, rubbing a hand over his back reassuringly. Scorpius nodded and took a deep breath.

"For Cassie," he said.

"For Cassie," Rose affirmed. With their wands carefully hidden, the two of them walked out to the center area. Olga and Sundari were dressed in all black, no doubt ready to head up to the roof, while Marie was dressed as a chauffeur, no doubt a cover for her to monitor the situation up-close. Clemente was already out as well, looking dashing in his classic tux and slicked back, now-long black hair. The aging potion put a few faint wrinkles and filled him out as well. A few moments later, Bhaozai came out of one of the doors as well, looking beautiful in her dark purple evening gown. As she looked fairly old for her age anyways, the potion didn't change much. Olga nodded at all of them in approval, and Sundari went over the plan once more with them.

"Remember, if there's any sort of trouble at all, tap on your chosen items three times rapidly. Marie or I will come help. Everyone remember your items?" Everyone showed the simple gold bands that they wore on their right pointer finger.

"Wonderful. Now let's get our stories together again. Bhaozai and Clemente?"

"I'm a foreign art collector, Fa-Lian who is very interested in Marren's decor, and would like to him and his friends more about his collections. However, I cannot speak English, so I have my trusty translator Boris McPherson-" here Bhaozai gestured to Clemente, "-to help me. We shall speak with as many people as possible who we know to be at least semi-important. Every time we think we found someone who is part of the inner circle, we write their name on this piece of parchment that will go directly to Sundari's piece, disappearing from ours. We will attempt to get pictures with the camera hidden here -" Bhaozai gestured to one of her earrings, "- but only if we deem it possible to do so." Sundari nodded.

"Perfect. Rose and Scorpius?"

"We are an engaged couple named Damien Porter and Sarah Bridges. My father was a head of one of the companies Marren works with in legitimate business, so I'm here to represent the company out of politeness, even though Mr. Porter and Marren haven't done business in years. We will attempt to access his office, where we assume he has a secret room adjoining it that will contain papers and guns. There, we will steal as many papers as possible while Rose will assess the guns and how they may be charmed to be more dangerous against the human body. We do not know Boris and Fa-Lian, in the case we are caught in order to minimize correlation. If we are caught snooping, we pretend that we were just sneaking off to get some action." Sundari grimanced at his word choice but nodded.

"And Marie?"

"I'm Porter and Bridges' chauffeur. I stay by the car near the house and monitor the situation from these-" she taps on her glasses - "which are charmed to be able to see through all but steel as if it were just glass. If there is any trouble, or a ring is activated, I intervene as necessary." Sundari nodded.

"Perfect. And I'm up here monitoring through the earpieces-" she then handed out earpieces to everyone, "-ready to intervene if necessary, and I can fly from roof to roof with this." She gestured to her broom. Everyone nodded, and they all headed to their respective positions. Bhaozai and Clemente arrived first, and Scorpius, Rose, and Marie drove a few blocks down and back so that it appeared that they were just arriving. A footman opened Rose's door and helped her out of the car, directed her and Scorpius through the front doors and Marie down a side driveway. Rose nodded at Marie, and gulped slightly as the car left, as long with her ability to escape. Scorpius showed their charmed invitation to the butler, and guided Rose into the ballroom with a strong hand on her back. Rose inhaled nervously and pressed back into Scorpius hand in some attempt to reassure him as well. The two plastered fake, unconcerned smiles as the mingled around the large ballroom by the foyer. There were at least two hundred people already there. Rose could see Bhaozai and Clemente near the other end of the room, talking with an almost comically sleazy-looking businessman. However, despite speaking with many people, they had yet to see Marren. The plan was to speak to Marren at least once before attempting to break into his office to ensure that he wouldn't be in there when they would try. They got lucky though - they turned around from speaking to a decidedly boring old couple and came face to face with the man himself.

"I do not believe I recognize you," Marren said in a faint Eastern European accent, "Forgive me, my memory sometimes fails me." Rose squeezed Scorpius hand slightly, attempting to infuse him with some more courage and ability to lie.

"Oh no, apologies be mine for not introducing myself earlier," Scorpius spoke in an American accent, "My father is William Porter. He couldn't make it tonight, but my fiancé Sarah and I are both here to enjoy your hospitality." Marren's smile became slightly less sinister and his gaze slid over to Rose, raking his eyes up and down her body.

"Of course. My apologies. I do hope you are ... enjoying your time here." Scorpius grip around Rose's waist tightened protectively, but he maintained his otherwise cool persona.

"Oh yes, this is incredible. Champagne is delicious," Scorpius said before taking a long swig from his flute. Marren nodded.

"Well, I do hope you forgive me, but I must go speak with some more guests. Please, enjoy yourselves."

"Aw, that's too bad Marren. Curse of the host, right?" Scorpius and Marren chuckled, though the latter's was rather unconvincing.

"Right." Marren eyed Rose once more before slipping off into the crowd. The fake smile slipped from Scorpius' face.

"Ugh, that man was gross," He wiped his mouth, as if smiling was some sort of gross thing that got on his face.

"I'm surprised at you, you lie so well. That American accent was perfect! And you hate champagne!" Rose laughed, leading Scorpius to the edge of the room to enact phase two of the plan. Scorpius pressed her up against a pillar and put his lips to the edge of her neck, like he was supposed to.

"What did you think they were teaching us in espionage training?" Scorpius asked snarkily, but with a smile. Rose buried a hand his hair (partly because she was supposed to, partly because she had been dying to run her fingers through his long her since she first saw it).

"Well, you're pretty damn good at lying. I would have believed it if I didn't know any better."

"Thanks babe," Scorpius took her by the hand and led her off towards a back hallway, putting on a fake smile for all the middle-aged men that he didn't know giving him winks and thumbs-ups as he passed.

 _Good job guys, that was pretty damn convincing. You're looking for the second door on the left._ Sundari spoke to them over the earpiece for the first time, and it sent a shock through Rose. _That's creepy as fuck._ Rose hated Muggle spying devices, but she did have to say they were pretty damn useful. They opened the door to the office and saw possibly the most gaudy, Gilded-age style office to ever exist. Rose quickly surveyed the room, ensured no one was there, and then cast a useful spell she learned in training. It was intended to show the most hidden thing in a room.

" _Inveniet_." The glow at the end of her wand traveled slowly to a large bronze figurehead, not unlike the Sophecles statue in Rose's room from Hogwarts. Rose walked over quickly and pulled back the head of the statue to reveal a red button. Rose pressed it, and an entire row of bookshelves disappeared, showing a secret room with a single filing cabinet and a whole row of guns.

"Holy shit." Scorpius breathed.

"C'mon, let's get to this." Scorpius nodded and took Rose's clutch, which had the Undetectable Extension Charm, and went straight to the filing cabinet, pulling out as much as possible. Rose went over to the row of guns, hesitant to pick one up. She settled first on a handgun. However, as soon as she touched it, it transformed into a semi-automatic rifle in her hands.

"Fuck!" Rose muttered, but she took note of how it balanced in her hands. She pointed it at a shot-up dummy that was in the corner of the room, and saw that the scope blinked with the words "target locked on liver". Rose felt herself almost gag and she quickly returned the gun. She went down the line, and each seemed more sinister than the next. Some contained bullets, others contained curses that would have more fatal accuracy than a wand. Each one was made to hurt a human. There was a gun that ensured never-healing wounds, as it would coat bullets in a potion that would attack any clotting materials. There was a gun that shot electricity that would fry certain neural passages. It was sick. She wished there was enough room in the bag to confiscate all the guns, but unfortunately, her extension charms weren't that good yet.

"You ready to go?" Scorpius asked. Rose noted the empty cabinet and nodded.

"Let's get the hell out."

 _Fuck you guys, Marren and some associates are approaching the office_. Marie's voice crackled over the earpiece.

"Fuck. Muggle or Magic?" Scorpius whispered. Muggle _, so you still have some time to get out in case before Marren discovers his secret room ransacked._ Rose ran to the statue and pressed to button, then righted the head over. Scorpius grabbed her and pushed her up against a wall, yanked one of her sleeves down, threw off his jacket, and mussed up the two of their hair. He just placed his lips on her collar when Marren burst in.

"What the- oh my," Marren grinned. Rose pretended to squeak in embarrassment and righted her sleeve, while Scorpius scrambled for his jacket and the purse.

"Very sorry, sir," Scorpius took Rose's hand and began leading her out.

"No, I quite understand my boy, especially with that broad. There's a guest bedroom two doors down on your right. Have fun." Marren winked and patted (well, more like slapped) Rose's ass as she walked by. Rose covered her snarl with a delicate shriek of surprise. She had to shove Scorpius out the door to _just_ _leave it alone, goddammit, now's not the time_.

"Hope to . . . see you around," Marren winked. After a sharp jab in his ribs, Scorpius smiled painfully in response and shut the door behind them. Sundari's voice echoed over the earpieces.

 _Good cover guys. Pull out, Bhaozai and Clemente have everything that they need. Who knows when Marren will open up his little chamber of horrors again. But really, great job everyone. We did it._

Rose let out a little whoop of happiness. Scorpius laughed a little and pulled her in for a kiss.

"We fucking did it, Scor." Rose murmured against his lips.

"We sure fucking did." He replied. He pulled back and rested his forehead on hers.

 _I hate to break up this little moment, but we really gotta head out. I'll pull around with the car._ Rose could hear the amusement in Marie's voice.

"Let's get out of this hellhole," Rose said.

"Don't have to tell me twice." The two of them walked as fast as surreptitiously as possible out to the front. Rose nodded her thanks to the footman as he opened the door for her. She slid in, and when Scorpius closed his door behind him, all three of them in the car burst out laughing.

"Well chauffeur, back to our hotel! Chop-chop!" Rose waved her hand as she tried to catch her breath.

"Sure thing, lover-girl," Marie smirked. They went around a few blocks before pulling into the back garage for the hotel and hopping out. They practically ran up the back staircase (a pretty amazing feat, considering that Rose was still wearing those six inch torture devices). They burst into the suite to see Sundari, Bhaozai, and Clemente already celebrating with a bottle of (probably spiked) butterbeer. Even Olga seemed to be smiling.

"AYYYYYYYY, LOOK WHO DECIDED TO SHOW UP TO THE PARTY!" Clemente came over and looped an arm around Rose's shoulders.

It was fun.

They turned over all their papers and evidence to Olga, who sent it off to the compound through the Floo network. They passed the bottles around and turned on some Muggle music on that funny looking device Sundari called a "radio". After an hour, the aging potion wore away and the four of them faded back into their normal 18 year old selves. By the very late night though, they were decidedly worn out. This past week -hell, the last three weeks really - had taken a considerable toll on the group, and they were ready to settle down. Everyone slowly began to withdraw to their rooms, with Scorpius, Rose, and Olga being the last ones there. Finally though, even stoic Olga succumbed to her exhaustion and she stood up to leave.

"Great job, you guys. Honestly, you all worked together very well," Olga said, stretching. Rose and Scorpius looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"How much firewhiskey was in that butterbeer?" Rose asked, eyeing the bottle suspiciously. Olga laughed.

"No, really. I'm proud of you all. Good night, and get to bed soon, we will be leaving at noon sharp tomorrow." And with the quiet click of the lock, Rose and Scorpius were left alone in the common area. Scorpius stood and wordlessly extended his hand to Rose, which she gladly took. He led her out to the balcony, where the party across the way was still raging. They could hear the shouts of "TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!"

On that 'one', fireworks exploded from the roof of Marren's house, to the obvious delight of his guests. Under the showering blue sparks in the cold London night (honestly, Rose didn't understand how Marren got the approval to use fireworks in the middle of London), Rose and Scorpius kissed their way into the New Year. After they pulled apart, they observed the party still going on below. All of a sudden, a very rumpled-looking Marren ran out to the gate where his guard stood, gesticulating wildly.

"Uh-oh," Scorpius smiled wryly, "He found out." Rose tossed her head back and laughed.

"Too bad for him, he's several hours too late."

"Happy New Year's, Rose."

"Happy New Year's, Scorpius." Scorpius held Rose for a few more moments, before realizing that she was probably freezing in the dress of her's in the London winter, and her quickly ushered her back to the room.

"Honestly Scorpius," she laughed, "I'm totally fine. My warming charm barely wore off."

"Your icicles you call fingers beg to differ with you, love."

"Hmmm, whatever. Unzip me?" Over the course of the night, Rose had taken the pins out of her hair, and she pulled it away from her neck to give Scorpius access to the zipper. Scorpius complied, pulling the zipper down slowly. Rose shuddered at the feeling of his breath on the back of her neck, and she almost jolted in shock when she felt his hands settle on her hips.

"You're killing me here, Rose," Scorpius groaned into her hair. Rose smiled and shrugged the dress over her shoulders before whirling around to seize Scor's lips with hers.

* * *

"Wait wait wait wait, I don't want to hear about my sister having sex!" Hugo's face was a bright, firetruck red and his hands were over his ears. Marcie shot him a glare, but Rose just laughed.

"'Course Hugo, sorry, I'll leave that part out."

"Thank you! Merlin woman, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Anyways, after we . . . you know . . ."

* * *

Rose and Scorpius lay in the bed facing each other. Rose was stroking his hair softly when he seized her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Merlin, Scor, who knew what a romantic you were . . ." Rose laughed, but she trailed off when she saw a series of emotions flicker across his face.

"What's going on, Scor?" He seemed to struggle for words for a moment, before settling on:

"I'm worried."

"About what?"

"Something I saw in the files . . . Rose, I think they're planning another attack soon. On a school" Rose sat up quickly, all modesty forgotten when the sheet pooling around her waist.

"What do you mean? What exactly did you see?" Scorpius slowly pushed himself up with a sigh.

"Look, I can't know for certain because I was just throwing everything in. But I saw something with the word fragment of 'Ho-' and 'broom'." Rose's brow creased.

"What do you mean? That's not exactly anything solid."

"Well, 'Ho-' is the start of 'Hogwarts' obviously-"

"Scor, no it's not. There's no way for certain. I'm not saying that your crazy-"

"Then what am I?"

"I mean, I do think you're probably a bit paranoid!"

"How so?"

"Scorpius, these are lone-wolf attacks, we can't assume that he even knows who he is selling these guns too. You're talking about a widescale conspiracy."

"But it would make sense!"

"No it wouldn't Scorpius! You're obviously still being driven by the Ilvermorny thing-"

"And what's wrong with that?" Scorpius asked icily.

"It's not healthy! I know you have this weird avenging-thing, but you need to cut it out, before someone gets hurt!"

"What do you mean?"

"Look, it's no secret that you get fixated on small things and blow things out of proportion, my dad told me your father would do it to so I know you probably grew up with that-"

"What the fuck Rose?" Scorpius pushed himself to the edge of the bed and pulled on some boxers. He put his head in his hands with his back to Rose.

"Are we seriously back to this? I know you think you know everything about my childhood-"

"Well the way you talk sometimes, I know that-"

"You know what? You think you had a better childhood than me?"

"No! I just think my parents were a little more-"

"More supportive? More sacrificing? Are we seriously back to this shit Rose? I thought we fixed this. I thought you let go of this superiority bullshit."

"No, Scor-"

"Just . . . stop, Weasley. This just . . . isn't going to fucking work." Scorpius said, pulling on a shirt, some pants, and some shoes.

"Scor, what do you mean?" Scorpius looked at her for the first time with his hand on the doorknob.

"Us. With you whole savior complex, these assumptions about my family-"

"But Scor, we both know you and Cassie are different-" Rose was cut off by a slam of the door. She jumped out of bed and threw on a robe, but by the time she made it to the common room, Scorpius was already gone.

* * *

"I was about to go out after him, but I'm not that stupid. For all I knew, he could have apparated as soon as he closed the door behind him, and I don't know London at all. He was back in the apartment when I woke up the next morning. He wouldn't look at me, wouldn't talk to me. The few days after were just paperwork and mission reports, and the only time he spoke a word to me was to ask about a clarifying detail. He's made sure he's never alone with me, and he just brushes me off when he tries to apologize. And it's just _so stupid_ to cry over some _boy_ , but he's not just some _boy_ , and I just don't know what to do!" Rose finished with a hushed but semi-hysterical wail. Hugo wrapped his arms around his sister. Marcie, meanwhile looked murderous.

"Who does that little worm think he is, what an ass-"

"No, Marcie you don't understand! I made those assumptions - I completely believed that he had a worse childhood than me because of the family he's from! That's the worst part about this!" Marcie sat back down, her temper cooling a bit.

"Oh Rose, I'm sorry, I'm sure he'll get over -"

"He won't," Rose said grimly, "I tried to talk with Albus and Fred over the past few days, and while they were perfectly nice with me, they were pretty sure that Scorpius was extremely upset and not about to get over it any time soon." Marcie just nodded sadly and held Rose's hand for awhile. All of a sudden, Hugo tapped Rose's shoulder.

"He's over there, if you want to talk to him." He was indeed. Scorpius was just across the courtyard, talking with Al, Fed and Rocco. He was smiling, but he had dark bags under his eyes and it was obvious that his heart wasn't in his laugh. Rose stood up and called out his name.

"Scorpius!" Her voice was thin, reedy, and desperate. Rose thought that her call got carried away in the clamor of their surroundings, but Scorpius turned towards her direction, his face frozen in a half-smile. However, when he saw who called his name, the smile promptly dropped from his lips and he began to turn back to his friends.

That's when the shots began.

The rapid _pop-pop-pop_ was deafening, but Rose would have sworn that they were just a loud deck of exploding snap cards. That is, until a kid twenty feet away fell down with a deep red stain across his shirt and the screaming started. Rose was almost frozen in shock. She turned to see a tall figure dressed in black with a mask and a large gun in his hands (the one that coated bullets with the potion that made it impossible for the wounds to heal). He was carefully aiming at the students who were scattering in all directions, taking a few with a couple rounds of shots each time. Hugo's pale face yanked her out of her reverie.

Rose began pulling a group of first years into the loggia, with the protection of stone around them.

"Get down! Crawl to the Great Hall, alert Headmistress McGonagall that there are shots being fired from a charmed Muggle gun in the courtyard. Go - stay on your stomachs and take cover when necessary. Go! GO!" She sent the kids away. The crowd in the courtyard was thinning, as the occupants ran or were lying on the ground. Rose and Marcie were firing spells at the gunman, but he seemed to be surrounded by some sort of impenetrable shield. She needed to get closer. Marcie and Rose nodded at each other before vaulted their stone protection and firing at the gunman. He hadn't noticed them yet, but he was going too soon - a small crowd of seventh years (including Scorpius, Al, Fred, and Rocco) were approaching him from behind. All of a sudden, the gunman swiveled around and fired shots at Scorpius' group. Rose was too far, too far away, when she saw Rocco and Al fall.

"NO!" Scorpius' scream rang across the courtyard, and his curse was so forceful that the gunman stumbled back a few steps. This bought Fred and Scorpius time to drag Rocco and Al out of the way. However, it pushed it - because even though the gunman was a human, it was no longer one - closer to one of the loggias. It just so happened that that loggia was occupied by Hugo, who was attempting to evacuate some first and second years. Rose almost saw this happen in slow motion. She saw the gunman raise its weapon towards her little brother. She saw Hugo push the kids into tapestry-covered secret passageway. She saw him brace himself, awaiting for the bullets to rip through his fifteen year old body. _No FUCKING way._ There was not a single chance in this entire goddamn world that she would let _anyone_ force her little brother to become a martyr.

Before she quite registered that she was doing, Rose's feet were charging towards her brother. She saw the gunman look carefully through the scope, aiming for her brother. With a last burst of energy, she apparated right in front of her brother and pushed him into the passageway. She didn't even feel pain when the first bullet hit her in the right shoulder. Or the second between the ribs. It was only when the third one hit her back did she finally begin to fall, did she finally begin to feel the pain. She thought she might have heard a yell, but it was difficult to tell over the ringing in her ears. _Fall forwards, let gravity keep the blood inside the wounds_. The tapestry that covered the passageway depicted a scene between a centaur and the stars, and the stars began to shine too, too brightly. The colors blurred together and her knees hit the ground. She faintly registered the dull thud of her shoulder then her head hit the ground. It hurt, it hurt _so much_.

Who was that screaming? Wait, was that _her_ screaming? No, she didn't think so. She didn't think that she could use her vocal cords anymore. Suddenly She was staring at the stone ceiling. It might actually have been the floor, but Rose thought it would be more dignified if it was the ceiling, so she went with that. Were those more bangs? Or - wait, was that flash of light a spell or her eyes playing tricks on her? Was that blood by her head hers? No, there was a body with a head wound next to her, and Rose doubted that that much blood had time to leave her body by this point. Though it could have - was it mere, precious seconds or minutes or hours or even days that she was lying there, eyes wide open as she tried to take in everything before she left. All of a sudden, Hugo's face appeared in front of her. She tried to frown. Stupid boy. She just saved him, what was he doing back here? Silly. She tried to push him back towards the tapestry, but her hand didn't twitch. Then - wait, was that Scorpius' blond hair? Yes, those definitely are his eyes too. But why is his jaw all red? Silly silly silly. He was yelling something at her. That's not very nice to yell, especially when she just got shot. She tried to tell him, tried to whisper to him "You were right!" Very funny how that happened. He was right about everything! And then she felt herself being lifted. And then she kept seeing those eyes, those green, green eyes. Or were they silver? And then she saw his lips move again. And then she felt cold hands on her body. And then - _ow!_ Stop touching that, it hurts! And then it was his eyes again, so it was okay.

And then.

And _then_ . . .

 **Posted: 3/9/18**

 **A/N: Sources (add in the dot com where indicated and erase the spaces)**

 **Dress:** **dhgate(DotCom)** **/product/ trumpet-emerald-green-evening-dress-2017 /394742827. html**

 **Jewelry:** **weddbook(DotCom) /media/ 2216289/ green-rhinestone-necklace-emerald-jewelry-set-green-bridal-jewelry-green-bridesmaid- jewelry-set**

 **Scorpius' bearded look is based on Chris Hemsworth because who else? Also my view of Marren's house is based on the old Vanderbilt house in NYC if ya interested.**


End file.
